Never Fade
by filmFreak1
Summary: COMPLETED! Takes place during NFA. Buffy and the gang must fight four members of the Circle of the Black Thorn in Rome in a battle that none of them expect to survive. Please, please leave feedback!
1. Surprise Visitor

**Title:** Never Fade

**Author: **filmFreak1

**Disclaimer: **No, I don't any of them, don't sue, they're the property of Joss Whedon, WB, UPN, CW, whatever, blah blah blah.

**Rated:** M (contains violence, some sexual content, and language)

**Summary: **Whistler surprises the gang in Rome when he pays a visit and informs them that they need to help Angel by eliminating the members of the Circle of the Black Thorn that reside in Rome.

**Feedback: **Please review! Pleasepleasepleaseplease!

Buffy was later than usual that night—it was approaching 2 a.m. She had stayed out dancing at the club a little longer than she had intended. If she had listened to the Immortal's protests, she would have been there still. However, as fun as the Immortal was, she was tired, and she had to get up fairly early tomorrow (or rather, today). After all, Willow and Kennedy were coming for a visit that day, and she had yet to get the apartment ready. Slipping her key into the lock, she unlocked the door and quietly stepped into the apartment.

Andrew was snoring on the couch, wrapped up in his Darth Vader blanket. Buffy shook her head in amusement. Andrew had matured significantly since Sunnydale, and had even become a little cool (emphasis on the word _little_). Buffy had been shocked when she had found out he was dating two women, and good-looking ones at that…she'd always thought that he was gay. Maybe he was simply bisexual. Still though, no matter how he had changed since Sunnydale, he still had plenty of the geek left in him, as evidenced by his choice of bed covers; some things never changed. She tiptoed by the couch and headed towards the kitchen.

A dim light illuminated the kitchen floor in one corner—the refrigerator door was open. She could hear someone rummaging around in the refrigerator. Buffy smiled. Dawn and her late-night snacks. She decided to play a trick. Buffy crept quietly toward the refrigerator door, which was hiding Dawn behind it.

Then everything went crazy.

It started when Buffy quickly rounded the door. It wasn't until she had grabbed the person and shouted "Boo!" that she realized that it wasn't Dawn.

The figure, obscured by the darkness of the apartment, let out a rather masculine scream. On impulse, it turned and let fly its fist directly into Buffy's nose, sending her flying across the kitchen.

Buffy quickly jumped up (she could feel the red warmth pouring out of her nose and down into her mouth), and grabbed the man (she guessed he was a vampire, or at least a demon, based on how strong he was). Her hands felt leather, probably a jacket he was wearing. She lifted him (it?) and sent him smashing into the kitchen cabinets.

"Buffy!" she heard Andrew's voice calling, laced with worry. The living room light came on, and Andrew came rushing into the kitchen, just as Buffy was taking out her stake and was about to end the fight right then and there.

"Buffy! It's alright, I let him in!"

Buffy stopped, her stake hand frozen in mid-air, and looked at whatever it was she was fighting.

It appeared to be a man. He was a little short (though still taller than she) and stocky, and he was indeed wearing a leather jacket. He was also rather frightened. On his head rested a small white Fedora, similar to the hats that boxers' managers were usually depicted wearing. For a minute, she remembered his face but couldn't place it. Then it dawned on her.

"Whistler!"


	2. Off to a Bad Start

Hearing the racket from the kitchen, Dawn had woken up slipped on blue robe. She walked towards the kitchen, clutching a stake in her right hand.

She found Buffy pacing around the kitchen, holding an ice pack to her bloody nose with one hand. The strange man whom Andrew had let in earlier that evening was sitting on the counter using one hand to hold an ice pack to an ugly bruise on his cheek and using the other hand to hold a beer bottle.

Andrew was explaining to Buffy that Whistler had stopped by earlier that evening, saying that he had a message for Buffy, a message that involved Angel. Even though Andrew didn't know him, Whistler had seemed friendly enough, and after noting that he didn't need an invitation to enter the apartment, Andrew had decided that it was safe to let him stay there until Buffy returned. In response, Buffy chewed him out for being so reckless about who he let in; she did not have anything in particular against Whistler (other than the damage he had just done to her face), but she did not want Andrew to accidentally let in the wrong person (or demon, for that matter) at a future time.

"Pretty nasty bruise you gave me there, Slayer," Whistler said.

"Hey, don't complain, you gave me a bloody nose!" Buffy was speaking with a nasal twang; her nose was currently stopped up.

"It was dark. You scared the shit out of me. How did you expect me to react?"

"Hi guys, is everything okay in here?" Dawn entered the kitchen, stake still clutched in her right hand.

"Yes, Dawn, it's fine. Go back to bed."

Whistler spoke up. "Actually, Buffy, I think she may need to hear what I have to say, even though the message was mainly for you."

Buffy looked at Dawn, then at Whistler.

"Okay, let's hear it."

Whistler took a deep breath, and began.

"As I'm sure you're aware, I do work for the Powers That Be. They tell me what to do, I do it. That is how I came to help Angel…the Powers told me that he was going to be a champion some day, but he needed a little push. As I told you six years ago, I was the one who led him to you.

"But now he needs my help again. I learned recently that he is the CEO of the LA branch of Wolfram and Hart, and I'm sure that you're aware of the evil that goes on behind the scenes there; the Senior Partners, all that shit."

Buffy nodded; this was old news; it was the reason she no longer trusted Angel.

"Now let me tell you something you don't know. The Senior Partners' direct representatives on Earth form a small, elite group known as the Circle of the Black Thorn. Their job is to keep the Apocalypse on schedule, to make sure that all the pieces are falling into place."

Whistler paused. Buffy dreaded what he was going to say next.

"Angel has joined the Circle."

Buffy lowered her head, tears forming in her eyes. Her worst fears about Angel had seemingly become true.

"Did he lose his soul again?" She really hoped that this was the case; at least then he'd have an excuse. Whistler shook his head (which caused sobs to start forming in her throat) and continued.

"No. But don't worry; he's not doing what you're afraid he's doing--quite the opposite, actually. He has successfully fooled the Senior Partners."

Buffy looked up at Whistler again, hope starting to show in her eyes.

"While joining the Circle did require him to do more than one act of evil, he joined because it was the only way for him to find out who all the members of the Circle are."

"What's he planning to do?" Buffy asked.

"In about thirty hours, he is going to set into motion a plan to wipe out the entire Circle."

Buffy said nothing for a moment; then…

"Okay, that's wonderful to hear, but not really seeing what the issue is here. Why are you here? Does he need my help? Is he going to die or something?"

"I am not sure about that; the vision the Powers sent me wasn't too clear about whether he actually was going to die, but I do know that he and his gang believe that none of them are going to survive.

"You see, he knows that if his plan succeeds, he will successfully cause the Senior Partners to briefly lose their hold on our dimension. Sure, they will only lose their hold for a mere instant, but that instant will be enough that it will have set back their plans for the Apocalypse for centuries, if not longer. The Senior Partners will be so pissed that they will unleash their armies onto LA."

Andrew interrupted. "Wait a minute…how will the Partners' unleashing their evil Imperial Army on Los Angeles _prevent_ the apocalypse?"

Whistler looked annoyed at Andrew's interruption, but continued.

"They can't keep their armies in this dimension very long. They will only be able let them run loose on Earth long enough to get revenge on Angel and all those who assist him in his plan."

Dawn spoke up excitedly. "Well, then, we should help him! Buffy can call up the Slayer school in Cleveland and have them send dozens or even hundreds of Slayers to LA to battle the armies!" Buffy nodded in agreement.

Whistler gave a sad smile.

"That's noble of you, but that's not what I really came here to tell you."

Buffy, Dawn, and Andrew all looked at him.

"It's true that you need to help him, but not in the way that you are thinking. You see, there's a small flaw in his plan. He assumes that the plan will work because he assumes that all the members of the Circle were present at his initiation ceremony.

"Your job is to eliminate the ones who weren't. And you need to do it before Angel executes his plan."


	3. Information on the Four

Andrew responded first. "Wait…how are we supposed to do that within thirty hours? Do you have one of those teleporters from Star Trek to help us go around the world to where those Circle members live? If so, I hope it's one of the teleporters from Next Generation, because the original series ones were…" Andrew realized that he was babbling and immediately stopped talking. Again, Whistler looked annoyed.

"No, Andrew, that won't be necessary. You see, the remaining Circle members all happen to be here in Rome."

This time, it was Dawn who responded.

"Wait a minute…you've just told us that all the members of the Circle are in Los Angeles, except for a few who just happen to be here where we are. That seems just too coincidental to me."

"I can explain that. The Senior Partners aren't stupid. They use the Circle to keep an eye on people who they see as a threat. For a while, they believed their only potential threat was Angel. Then about a year ago, you guys delivered a crushing defeat to the First, an achievement not to be sneezed at. And guess what: you're now on the Senior Partner's watch list. Hence, the reason they currently have four members of the Circle here in Rome."

Buffy turned and looked at Whistler. "Well, who are they? Not so big with the guessing, you know."

"In a minute, Buffy. There's something else I need to confess to you first."

Buffy stared. "Go on."

"You weren't the only ones that the Powers sent me to. I was also told that I needed to go to London to inform Rupert Giles about the situation. As it turned out, another slayer, I forget her name…Hope?"

"Faith." Faith had not been back to the States since Sunnydale; she was still wanted by the law there. Giles had mentioned in a phone call a few days earlier that Faith was staying with him for a brief while.

"Right. As it turned out, Faith happened to be staying with him at the time. I told Giles exactly what I'm telling you now, and he decided to bring her in on it."

Buffy felt a little frustrated. Giles could have at least called her and let her know Whistler was coming; at least her nose would have still been intact.

"You mean to tell us that Faith and Giles are coming here?" asked Dawn.

"Correct. They should be arriving sometime this morning."

Buffy was sorely tempted to throttle Whistler, but she remained calm…after all, he was only doing what the Powers supposedly told him to do.

"Okay," she said slowly. "They'll be helpful. Now, who are the four members of the Circle that we need to whack?"

"Well, for starters, there's the CEO of the Rome branch of Wolfram and Hart. I assume you know where to find her."

"You mean that annoying creepy Italian lady with the large boobs?" The Immortal had introduced them to each other at the club a few months back. Buffy had a feeling that the Immortal had hopes for a three-way. Dawn and Andrew had met her later, and found her to be friendly enough, although Dawn had had to elbow Andrew more than once to remind him to keep his eyes off of her cleavage.

Whistler suppressed a snicker and continued, "Yeah, I suppose that's one way of describing her. However, she's also a vampire."

Buffy, Andrew, and Dawn all looked shocked.

"Really?" asked Buffy. "She didn't seem so…vampy. You know, not so big with the bloodsucking and all."

"She's a CEO. She does have to worry about public relations to an extent."

"Okay, who's next?"

"Another member of the Circle is a demon by the name D'Sulok. Other than walking on two legs, he closely resembles a lizard of sorts, with his long tale and scaly skin. He's about seven feet tall. Do not underestimate him; he's very strong, and his skin serves as a tough armor. He lives in a mansion near the Colosseum.

"Next you've got a demon that wears the form of a human. He is known as the Black Hat. He dresses in jeans and plaid shirts, and his trademark is the black cowboy hat he wears. Be careful when you go after him; he has great skill with range weapons, and he maintains an entourage of vampire bodyguards. He does various jobs for the Senior Partners, usually involving hunting and assassination. You will find him in an office building a few blocks away from this apartment."

Whistler stopped and looked at them, his face taking on a solemn appearance. The others looked at him in anticipation. He continued.

"The fourth member is usually very hard to find; he has hundreds of people and demons who do most of his dirty work for him. However, finding him will not be so hard for you. To the partners, he is the most valuable of the four; he is the only member of the Circle that is directly in contact with you." Whistler turned and looked directly at Buffy. She appeared confused. Then, slowly, a look of realization crept onto her face.

"Of course," she replied, anger starting to form in her voice. "The Immortal."


	4. The Plan

Twenty minutes later, Buffy was still leaning over the counter in shock due to the fact that her current boyfriend (in addition to her ex-boyfriend) was a member of possibly the most evil group on the face of the earth, and the fact that she would have to kill him.

By this time, Whistler had worked his way through another beer, as well as half a bag of Cheetos. Andrew was pacing around the living room; he still had a hard time believing that Ilona (that CEO lady whose cleavage he loved staring at) was a vampire, and incredibly, even by vampire standards.

Eventually, Buffy stood up and looked at Whistler.

"So, if we do this job, what happens afterward?"

"One thing's for sure…if you participate in Angel's plan, the combined armies of the Senior Partners will come for you, too."

"I take it you won't be helping us?"

"Me? Sorry, no. I'm a messenger, not a warrior. I can't make you do what the Powers request of you; it's your choice. Let me just emphasize this: this is biggest Apocalypse of all time, the most well-planned. You are dealing with something that outdoes even what the First attempted. It is also what Angel is fighting his damned hardest to prevent. If you want to help Angel save the world, this is your big chance."

Buffy looked down at the floor. Whistler leaned forward, and cupping her chin in his hand, tilted her head up so that she was staring into his eyes.

"The big moments will always come. You can't do anything about that. It's what you choose to do afterward that counts. Remember that, Buffy." With that, Whistler got off the counter and walked out the door.

Buffy, Dawn, and Andrew spent several long minutes staring at each other. Finally, Dawn spoke.

"What will we do, Buffy?" Buffy looked at her then closed her eyes for a moment as if deep in thought.

Then she replied, "For now, we are going to bed. We have a long day ahead of us."

Several hours and a few hours of sleep later, Buffy sent a cab to pick up Willow and Kennedy at the airport. When they arrived at the apartment, Willow asked what had happened to Buffy's nose (it was still bruised up, even though Slayer healing had helped it significantly within a few hours). Buffy told her it was a long story.

"You may want to sit down," Buffy told Willow and Kennedy. "I hate to ruin your visit, but something came up last night." She turned toward Willow. "You remember that demon I told you about several years back named Whistler? The one who told me how to defeat Angelus?" Willow nodded.

Buffy proceeded to tell the two of them everything that Whistler had said. They were surprised when she told them that Faith and Giles were going to be arriving in a short while.

Kennedy replied first. "Aren't there a few small slayer schools around Europe? We could get some of them to assist us."

"No," Buffy replied. "The Senior Partners will come for those who help in this plan. If we bring a bunch of slayers into this, we risk getting them all killed. We only need enough people to take out the four members of the Circle."

"So what's the plan, then, Buffy?" asked Willow.

"We'll talk about it later when Faith and Giles get here."

When Faith and Giles finally did arrive, Buffy gathered everybody together in the living room. Willow, Kennedy, and Andrew were all squeezed onto the couch (with Dawn sitting on the couch arm), while Faith sat on the carpet. Giles stood to one side, and Buffy stood in the center of the room, pacing around with her arms crossed.

"Okay, here's the deal. You all know what we've been asked to do, but I need to make something clear: anybody who fights will more than likely not survive. The Senior Partners will take drastic measures to ensure that.

"You must remember that, as with all the previous Apocalypses we've stopped, this is not a battle for our own survival, but rather for that of the world. And if by my own death, I make the world a safer place for a little while longer, then it is worth it to me.

"I have an idea for a plan, but first I must ask the ultimate question: who's with me? Think before you answer, because when you do answer, there's no going back. If you choose not to fight, I will not blame you or hold it against you; I will even pay your airfare out of the city. So, let me ask again: who's with me?"

Faith raised her hand. "Hey, B, me and the old man here are ready to fight the good fight any day. It's the whole reason we came." Giles scoffed (in a friendly way) at being referred to as the "old man"; adjusting his glasses, he raised his hand also.

Willow's left hand was holding Kennedy's right hand. They each raised their available hand. "We were prepared to die a year ago when we took the battle to the Hellmouth…don't see why I should react any different this time," Willow told Buffy, smiling.

Dawn raised her hand next. Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but Dawn cut her off.

"Don't even think about trying to stop me, Buffy. Remember how Xander got tasered the last time you tried to keep me out of a battle?" Buffy nodded, one side of her mouth curling up to form a half-smile.

The rest of the group looked at Andrew. He started to raise his left hand, but Buffy started speaking.

"You are not obligated to help us, Andrew. You could get out of Rome and go back to the States, if you wish. We won't blame you for leaving; no one else never even has to know that you here in Rome on this day…we could make it look like you were staying somewhere else this whole time."

Andrew's reply surprised Buffy. "It's true, no one else will know, but I will…and I couldn't live with that. I'm not sure how I will be able to assist in this fight, but I'm in." He raised his hand all the way.

Buffy looked around the room. "Okay, then."

"What exactly is the plan you're proposing, Buffy?" asked Giles. Buffy noticed Andrew whispering into Dawn's ear; Dawn was nodding in agreement at whatever he was saying.

"First off, we need to decide who's going to handle which Circle member."

Dawn spoke up first. "Andrew here has a brilliant idea to take care of the Wolfram and Hart CEO; we know how to get her alone. Between my training and his assistance, taking her out shouldn't be a problem. Ooh! 'Taking her out'! I feel like an assassin!" She grinned cheerfully. Buffy had to admire Dawn for being able to be happy on the day she was probably going to die.

"Are you sure it's going to work, Dawnie?" Buffy asked. Dawn nodded in response.

Buffy nodded. "Obviously, I'll be the one handling the Immortal. I'm the only one who can get alone with him without his dozens of helpers around. Willow, can you safely use magic to take out vampires?" Willow nodded.

"I can use levitation to make little pieces of wood fly around and stuff."

"With no risk of going all…dark?" Buffy cringed, feeling really bad for asking, but Willow just nodded, grinning.

"Okay, then you and Kennedy will be handling the Black Hat. You will probably have to fight his vampire bodyguards before you can get to him. Be careful, he's supposed to be a good fighter, especially with range weapons."

"Which leaves Faith and I to deal with D'Sulok," Giles sighed.

"Yeah, sorry about that, but I have something that will help you out; I'll give it to you guys later."

"What are we going to do in the meantime, B?" asked Faith.

Buffy smiled at Faith. She looked at the group.

"You're going to do whatever you feel like doing. Go watch a movie, or sink karaoke, whatever you want. You may want to spend a half hour or so polishing your fighting skills, if you believe it's necessary. Just be careful not to wear yourself out; you'll need all the strength you can muster. We will meet back here at ten o'clock tonight to get ready for the fight. Don't be late."

--

_Author's Note: Yes, I know it seems like a bit of a direct rip-off of Not Fade Away to have them all having fun on the day they're apparently going to die, but this is to emphasize how their fight against evil is really not all that different from that of Angel's gang. Besides, if you knew you were going to die that day, wouldn't you want to have a really good day?_

_I know that so far, it's all been just dialogue and exposition, but don't worry, the action will come soon enough._


	5. The Great Day

The strobe light reflected off of the sweat on Buffy's body as she danced in rhythm to the loud techno music that pulsated through the speakers. She could feel the vibration in the floor beneath her feet.

Numerous other people crowded around her and Faith on the dance floor as they danced facing each other.

Buffy had not actually visited this club before; she had decided to give it a shot because she knew that it was not one that was frequently visited by the Immortal.

After a couple more songs, they finally stopped. As they were walking toward the exit, Buffy was approached by a young, handsome Italian man who offered to buy her a drink. He spoke English fluently, though he had a strong accent.

Faith came to her rescue. Putting her arm around Buffy, she said, "Sorry, Vito, this one's mine tonight." It took every bit of Buffy's will to stop herself from laughing as the young man's eyes glazed over and his mouth drooped open, indicating that certain fantasies had diverted his mind from reality.

They were both laughing really hard by the time they stumbled into the alley behind the club.

"Did you see that look on his face?" Buffy was doubled over; her sides were starting to hurt.

"Yeah, it wasn't too hard to guess what he was thinking about, B!"

Two more minutes passed before they finally calmed down.

"My stomach's talking, B. Let's get something to eat."

Buffy couldn't have agreed with her more.

--

Meanwhile, at a restaurant several blocks away, Dawn's eyes were widening at the vast array of choices offered by the buffet.

"Andrew! How much does this all cost?"

"Not to worry, princess, it's all on me." It wasn't like he was going to be worrying about money after tonight, anyway.

Dawn piled several kinds of food onto her plate then carried it back to their table.

"Might want to be careful, Dawn, too much of that might make you too sluggish for tonight."

"It's still hours away! It will be digested by then. Besides, you'd be surprised at how much I can put away. My stomach's like a black hole! Just in case this does happen to be my last day, I plan on eating every single thing in this restaurant containing a heavy amount of either sugar or grease."

"To hell with diabetes!" Andrew laughed.

"So, what'd you think of the movie?" asked Dawn. They had just watched _Kill Bill, Vol. 2_ at a theater that Andrew happened to know showed American films in their original language and without Italian subtitles.

"I thought it was great, but I think I liked the first one more. A lot more action, and it's hard to beat that anime sequence."

"Really? I liked the first one, too, but I thought this one was a _lot_ better. It definitely had more story to it."

"That is true. You know, it's a bummer that this apocalypse couldn't have waited a month. I was really wanting to see _Spider-Man 2_."

"Yeah, same here."

They both realized something...the fact that they were probably not going to survive the night did not bother them that much (Dawn guessed that maybe they had both lost their fear of death after last year's battle at the hellmouth). In fact, they were actually both happy…happy to just be here in each other's company.

After consuming five plates of food between them (that wasn't even counting the huge dessert they had), they both finally lumbered out of the restaurant. It was starting to get chilly. Andrew took off his jacket and put it on Dawn. She smiled at him, and placed her hand on his arm. He smiled back and escorted her elsewhere.

--

Kennedy and Willow both lay naked with the sheet around their wastes, their bodies glistening with sweat. Kennedy's head rested on her lover's chest.

"Willow?"

"Yes, Kenn?"

"You think Buffy's going to be pissed we did it in her bed?"

"Doubt it. As long as she doesn't have to sleep between now and tonight, I don't think it will ever be an issue."

They said nothing for a while. Kennedy again broke the silence.

"Willow?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"What if only one of us makes it tonight?"

"That won't happen, Kenn, baby, I promise. We'll either live together or die together."

"Yes, I hope so, too, but what if it doesn't happen that way? What if I'm the one who lives? I can't stand the thought of going on without you."

"We're going to be together tonight, Kennedy. What happens to one of us happens to both of us. Tomorrow we'll either be flying back to Brazil or walking towards the Pearly Gates. Either way, I'll be there holding your hand."

Kennedy looked up toward Willow and smiled. The redhead had a way of lifting her spirits even in the darkest of times. Scooting up, she kissed Willow on the lips. Then, giving Willow an evil grin, she scooted back down until her head was underneath the sheet. Willow tried to protest, but she was giggling too hard.

--

The entire café listened in silence as Giles sang, accompanying himself on the guitar. He sat on a stool in the middle of a brightly lit stage.

_If I leave here tomorrow_

_Would you still remember me?_

_For I must be traveling on now,_

'_Cause there's too many places I've got to see._

Playing the guitar had remained a passion of Giles's throughout his life. Even during the Sunnydale years, he had had dreams of starting his own band. But, a watcher's duties came first. At least he was finally playing for a sizable audience, he thought as he continued to sing.

'_Cause I'm as free as a bird now,  
And this bird you'll never change.  
And this bird you can not change.  
Lord knows, I can't change.  
Lord help me, I can't change._

Giles finished the song, and set his guitar down on his lap. For a moment, he was greeted by nothing but silence. Then the audience cheered, giving him a standing ovation. They had not even cared that they couldn't understand the English lyrics. He smiled and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Leaving the café after receiving several pats on the back, Giles walked down the street until he came to a corner containing a phone booth. Stepping inside, he pulled a calling card out of his wallet and started dialing.

He heard one ring. Then another. Then, finally, he heard a click and the voice of a British woman saying "Hello?"

"Hello, Olivia? It's Rupert. Yes, it's good to hear your voice, too. How have you been? I'm glad to hear that. Listen, I wanted to tell you something."


	6. Saying Goodbye

They all arrived back at the apartment around ten, as planned. Buffy noticed that Willow and Kennedy both seemed in rather high spirits; God, she hoped that whatever they did, they didn't do it in her bed.

They all spent about an hour or so getting ready. After showering, Buffy changed into a white blouse and a loose knee-length skirt…something to make herself presentable to the Immortal, but also convenient for fighting in. Faith, as usual, donned leather pants and a black sleeveless top.

What really puzzled the rest of the group, however, was what Andrew and Dawn wore. They were dressed up as though they were going to a business meeting. Andrew was dressed in a gray business suit with a white shirt and red tie, and a pair of freshly-shined black shoes; his neck-length hair was nicely combed into place. Dawn was wearing a black skirt and a red long-sleeved button-up shirt. Buffy looked at Dawn's feet and was thankful to note she was wearing flats; fighting in heels was a bitch.

Buffy pulled out her weapons chest and opened it up, allowing everybody to take whatever weapons they felt they needed. She chose for herself a small axe; something she could hide in the long coat she'd be wearing.

Finally, they gathered in the living room for the last time.

"Alright, we're all set to go," said Buffy. "After we finish our battles, we will meet at the street corner that this building sits on. You know which one I'm talking about, right?" The others nodded. "Okay, then, good luck to everybody; we'll see each other soon."

The other people in the room hugged each other. It was rather humorous watching the awkward embrace that Andrew and Giles gave each other; it was reminiscent of a time involving Spike when certain members of the Scoobies had lost their memories. Giles told Andrew to take care and that he made a "damn fine" Watcher.

Buffy released her embrace on Dawn, and looked her in the eyes, hands placed on her shoulders. They both had tears in their eyes.

"You make sure to make it to the corner in one piece, you got that, Dawnie?"

"I will."

"Good. Just remember that whatever happens, I love you always."

"There's no need to talk like that, Buffy; we'll be seeing each other in a few hours." Dawn was on the verge of sobbing.

"I know, Dawn. I know."

Wiping her eyes, Dawn left with Andrew.

"Oh! I almost forgot! Faith, I have something for you." Buffy went into her bedroom (cringing when she saw how messed up the bed covers were) and pulled a large rectangular case (with a swivel handle attached) out from underneath it. She carried it into the living room and handed it to Faith.

"What's this? A guitar?"

"I said I was going to give you something that would help you against D'Sulok."

Faith thought for a moment before her face lit up with realization.

"Is this what I think it is?"

Buffy nodded. "I had the carrying case specially made for it."

"Wait…are you sure you won't need it?"

"I'm only dealing with the Immortal; sure, he won't be easy to take on, but I've fought more difficult foes."

"Well, what about Kennedy? She's going to be taking on a lot of vampires."

"I have a witch to help me out. You'll need it more," said Kennedy.

"Take care, Faith." Buffy leaned forward and kissed Faith on the forehead.

Faith kissed her back, and then Buffy turned to Giles.

"You left me when I was in Sunnydale; don't try to leave me this time." Buffy said this with a smile. The older man smiled back, and hugged her tightly. Then he and Faith walked out the door.

Finally, Buffy turned Willow, wrapping her in a warm embrace.

"I'm sorry to get you into all this, Wil. Kinda ruins the vacation, don't it?"

"Buffy, I've been one of your best friends since that day we met back in tenth grade, and I've almost always been there for you. That's never going to change." She smiled sweetly. Then she and Kennedy walked hand-in-hand out the door.

"And I guess that just leaves me," Buffy said to herself. She glanced around the apartment one last time. Putting on her long coat, she slipped the small axe into a loop inside the coat and walked outside. She did not bother to lock the door behind her.

--

_Author's Note: Woo! I'm finally done with all the buildup. Next chapter, I PROMISE YOU, you will finally see the beginning of the big payoff._

_Oh, and don't forget: please, please leave feedback. It costs nothing to leave feedback, and I absolutely thrive on it. Heck, make it anonymous if you wish. I don't mind criticism, either; just make sure that it's constructive. Read and review!_


	7. The Battles Begin

Willow and Kennedy found the office building a few blocks away, just as Whistler had said. They entered and looked around the lobby; nobody was on duty at the front desk at this time of night.

"Where exactly in the building is the Black Hat's office located at?" asked Kennedy.

"Here's a sign." Willow pointed to a list of the offices contained on each floor. "Here it is: 'Black Hat Waste Management, Inc.—Fourth Floor'."

"'Waste Management'?"

"Guess it's a cover for what they really do."

They found the elevator, and Willow pushed the "Up" button. After a minute, the doors opened, and they stepped in. As they were on their way up, Kennedy set her black duffel bag down on the elevator floor and opened it. Inside were several weapons, including axes and stakes. Kennedy picked up three stakes and handed them to Willow.

"Make 'em fly like the wind, Wills." The elevator slowed, indicating they were reaching the fourth floor.

"Let's kick some cowboy ass," said Willow, grinning. They kissed right as the elevator doors dinged.

Kennedy picked up her bag. When the doors opened, they stepped directly into the lobby of the offices of the Black Hat.

The Black Hat was sitting behind a desk about thirty feet from the elevator. He was wearing a red and black plaid shirt, and his feet were resting on the desk, revealing alligator-skin boots partially covered by light blue jeans. And, of course, he was wearing a black cowboy hat. He looked up at the women as they entered, revealing a stone-faced man who appeared to be in his early forties; his dark brown hair came down past his neck. Surrounding him were a dozen or two men and women, dressed in clothing that spanned several decades of fashion—vampires, obviously.

"Well, hello there, ladies," the Black Hat spoke with a Texan accent, breaking his stone face with his most charming smile. He looked them up and down. "You know, I don't believe I recall ordering a call girl tonight, much less two of them. I got to say, though, they sent some mighty fine ones this time."

"Oh, we're here strictly on business," replied Willow. She flung one of her stakes, using magic to guide it directly into the chest of the vampire nearest to her, causing him to explode into a dust cloud. At the same time, Kennedy quickly reached into her bag and pulled out a small axe (more like a hatchet) and threw it directly at the Black Hat.

But, alas, the Black Hat was not the kind who would be that easily killed. With expert timing, he raised his left foot off of his desk and used the inner side of his boot to deflect the axe. Recovering quickly from the initial shock, he smiled again and took his legs off of his desk entirely. His bodyguards' faces morphed into vampire form.

"A couple of slayers!" He chuckled. Willow realized that he had not noticed the mystical help involved in her staking of the bodyguard. "I guess you _are_ here on business; I tend to let my boys here handle that aspect of the company." He smirked, and calmly exited the lobby, walking toward the back of the offices. At the same time, the vampires charged toward the Slayer and the witch.

--

After Buffy arrived at the Immortal's mansion, she was escorted by several demons and humans to the front door. She rolled her eyes. She had to go through this routine with the Immortal's guards every time she came here; it was the reason she usually preferred to go elsewhere, such as a dance club or her apartment.

One of the humans knocked. A pink demon with red eyes answered, and showed Buffy in. He led her to a large room on the left side of the house (a room big enough that she could have parked her entire apartment in there), and then walked up the stairs. Buffy opened her long coat (being careful to keep her axe hidden) and sat on the couch.

After a few minutes, the demon returned to the room, this time escorting the Immortal. The Immortal whispered something in Italian to the demon, and then gestured to him to leave. He and Buffy were now alone in the house.

The Immortal was dressed in a white suit (reminiscent of the leisure suits of the 1970's); the jacket was open, revealing a maroon shirt. His jet black hair was slicked back, and his smile revealed unblemished white teeth. He reminded Buffy of the _Nip/Tuck_ character Dr. Christian Troy.

"How's my little flower doing today?" he asked. He spoke fluent English; his accent was certainly noticeable, but not near as bad as that of most English-speaking Italians.

Buffy smiled. She had to admit, no matter how cheesy his nicknames for her were (or how evil he was, for that matter), he knew how to say anything in a way that really turned on the charm.

The Immortal walked over to the drink bar, and poured two glasses of scotch. Handing one to Buffy, he kissed her hand, and then sat down to her left on the couch (thankfully the side of her that the axe was not on), putting one arm around her. He leaned in and kissed her. Buffy could tell he was wearing a really expensive cologne.

"I hope his appearance did not frighten you?" he asked.

"Huh? Whose?"

"The one who answered the door."

"Oh…no, no. I've seen much uglier, believe me." Buffy started to ease back the right side of her coat.

"That's a relief. I hired him just recently, actually."

"Yeah, I guessed that; he wasn't here the last time I was." Buffy reached her right hand inside her coat for the axe.

"He was recommended to me by Ilina—remember her?"

Buffy was now easing the axe out of the loop. "Yeah, she's the Wolfram and Hart CEO, right?"

"She said he had special abilities—very valuable ones."

Buffy now had the axe free. She could now kill him—and he would never see it coming.

"Yeah, and what might those special abilities BE!" She screamed the last word as she raised the axe and swung it right toward the Immortal's head.

But the axe did not reach his head. Instead, he reached up with incredible reflexes and grabbed the handle of the axe near its head, stopping it less than an inch away from his own. He was still smiling, as if nothing had happened.

The Immortal answered her question. "Well, flower, if you really must know, he can read people's minds."

--

Near the Colosseum, Faith smashed down the front door of the mansion with her foot. Carrying her duffel bag and the case, she entered, followed by Giles, who carried a sword. Having heard the noise, the reptilian demon D'Sulok entered the front room, with two gray demons with small horns protruding from their foreheads trailing behind him.

As Whistler had said, D'Sulok was indeed over seven feet tall. His skin was dark green. He walked on two feet, but did not walk fully upright; he leaned slightly forward, using his tail for balance. He strongly reminded Faith of one of those raptors from the _Jurassic Park_ films (God, how they had been overused in that series!). Strangely enough, he was not naked; he wore a blue robe with a hole in the back for his tail to stick through; it waved around as he walked. Faith guessed it was to show that he was "civilized," if such a word could be used to describe a demon who was a member of the Circle of the Black Thorn. He spoke, or rather growled, something in Italian.

"Speak English, asshole," said Faith. D'Sulok's yellow eyes lit up with anger.

"Fool mortals," D'Sulok growled in English. "How dare you enter my abode without my invitation."

"Oh, sorry, guess I should ask first. May I please come in so I can kill you?" Faith set her bag and the case down. Opening the bag, she took out a long sword.

D'Sulok growled at this. Then he chuckled. He spoke something to his escorts in a language unknown to either Giles or Faith. The escorts drew swords and charged directly at Faith. Faith raised her sword, prepared to fight, but Giles stepped in front of her.

"I'll hold them off. You take care of the lizard." He clashed swords with both of the gray demons. Faith walked around the three of them and headed directly for D'Sulok, sword raised in front of her face, pointing straight up.

D'Sulok smiled; the light from the chandelier reflected off of his sharp teeth. "Very well, she-mortal, it will be my pleasure to crush your bones."

--

Dawn and Andrew entered the lobby of Wolfram and Hart and approached the front desk. Sitting behind it was a middle-aged female Brachen demon; she wore glasses with thick, black frames on a green face that had short spikes protruding from it.

"Excuse me, we're here for our interview with the CEO."

The Brachen demon looked up, and then rolled her eyes.

She pointed her finger to her left. "Look at sign!" she said rudely. Andrew and Dawn looked where she was pointing. In bright red letters, a sign read: _The nighttime secretary speaks only three words of English._

"Oh. Sorry." Andrew switched to Italian and repeated what he had said before. The secretary put on a headset and pressed a button on the earpiece. Andrew and Dawn heard her mention that the two of them were there for an interview with the CEO. She listened, then turned the headset off. She told Andrew and Dawn to wait in the lobby; the CEO would be down shortly.

--

_Author's Note: I need to address two things here._

_First thing: _

_Due to strong violence and some sexual references that may be used in upcoming chapters, it is quite possible that I may take this story up to an M rating. Just to warn you._

_Second Thing:_

_If you check the reviews on this story, you'll notice that Allen Pitt asked some valid questions; I will answer them here so that others can see._

_It is my interpretation that Giles never told Willow about Angel's phone call; even though she had met Fred only once or twice, I think she liked her enough that she would have at least tried to help her. As it was, we never got a single hint on the series that she did._

_As for Andrew telling Buffy that Spike was back, I decided against it mainly because, well, what's he going to do, say something like "Oh, by the way, Buffy, I know you're probably going to be dead in a few hours, so I thought it'd be a good time to tell you that Spike's been back for nearly a year"?_

_Again, both of these were valid questions, and I would be interested in writing fanfics about them in the future._

_Oh, and as always, leave feedback._


	8. Kurosawa, Katanas, and Credentials

Buffy slowly backed away from the Immortal, who was still holding her axe. He chuckled. Then he did something she did not quite expect.

He tossed the axe to one side; it landed harmlessly on the floor. Buffy looked at him in surprise then scoffed.

"Going to bring in your helpers to do your fighting for you?" she asked.

"No, flower. If I wanted to do that, I would have done it before I came in this room with you." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a tiny rectangular black box. He pressed a button on it. Immediately, a panel slid open on the wall to his left, revealing numerous weapons of all kinds. Walking over, he picked out two curved swords, both in scabbards. He pressed the button on the remote again, closing the panel.

"Have you ever watched any movies by Akira Kurosawa?" asked the Immortal.

"No, can't say that I have."

"Really? You should. They're quite excellent; Kurosawa was the master when it came to filmmaking. My personal favorite is _Seven Samurai_. I was actually at the first showing when it premiered in Japan fifty years ago."

Buffy wandered where he was going with this conversation, until she noticed the swords that he was holding.

"Samurai swords? You're going to kill me with two samurai swords?"

"They're called katanas, flower. And to answer your question, no, I'm going to kill you with only one of them. The other is to give you a fair chance to defend yourself. I'm going to give you what you apparently were not planning to give me: a fair fight. It's why I sent all my guards home tonight." He grinned at this then held out both of the katanas. "Pick one."

Buffy looked at both of them; she indicated the one in his right hand, which had a red and black scabbard. He tossed it to her. She caught it with her left hand.

Buffy slowly withdrew the sword from its covering. It looked quite new; the blade was sharp and reflected the light perfectly. She brandished it; she could not help but admire the craftsmanship.

"Have you had training in the ways of the Samurai?" asked Buffy.

"Yes, very much so. I spent many years during the sixteenth century learning from the best of the best in Japan."

Buffy nodded; her facial indicated how impressed she was. "Out of curiosity, how old _are _you, exactly?"

"Even I have lost count over the years, flower. What I can tell you is that I came from a plebeian family; I was in the lower class of society." He withdrew his blade from its scabbard and dropped the scabbard on the floor.

"Plebeian?" Buffy remembered the term from her world history class back in high school. Her eyes grew wide in surprise. "Wait a minute…you mean to tell me that you lived here in Rome in the days of the _Empire_?"

"More than that, flower; I was here when Rome was still a republic." He glanced up at something behind Buffy; Buffy turned and followed his gaze. She found herself looking at a shelf containing several ancient artifacts, including a centurion's helmet.

"When I was still young, a man came to me and told me that he represented three gods known as the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart. I was puzzled; those gods were unknown to me, and I was still a devout worshipper of Jupiter, or Zeus, as the Greeks called him." He looked back at Buffy. "But the Senior Partners, though they were not called that at the time, saw the potential in me and knew what I could accomplish for them. Thus they had the man show me a world I had never believed existed; a world where vampires and demons walked the earth. A world where I could have anything I wanted. This was more proof of his gods' existences than I had ever been offered for that of Jupiter's. So I pledged myself to the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart. I faithfully did their bidding, and in exchange they granted me riches and eternal youth. Eventually I was offered a position on the Council of the Black Thorn, and I accepted; I desired to be more powerful than ever."

"An offer you couldn't refuse," Buffy commented.

"Yes."

Buffy nodded, then stood up straight and looked directly at the Immortal. "Interesting credentials you have there. You ready to fight?"

"Anytime you are, flower."

They both got in position; Buffy held her katana out in front of her, while the Immortal took the classic samurai stance, using both hands to hold the handle of his katana next to the right side of his head, the blade pointing forward. His legs were spread, with his left foot in front, and his right pointing to the side.

The Immortal smiled once again. "Let's finish this."

--

_Author's Note: Sorry, I know not much action happened in this chapter, but I got to thinking about the mysterious Immortal and what his background could possibly be, and this chapter nearly wrote itself._

_Originally I planned to just simply have Buffy and the Immortal duke it out in typical Buffy fashion. You know; fists, feet, etc. But then I thought about it some more and remembered that the Immortal viewed magic as being dirty, and rather a cheap way to do things, so I figured that he would probably also hold the same view about fighting dirty._

_Plus, it was a great way to pay tribute to both "Kill Bill" and my favorite Japanese director (may he rest in peace)._

_Again, let me remind you that I may be taking this fic up to an M rating soon (depending on content in later chapters), and to leave feedback. I promise I will get back to the other characters' fights in the next chapter._


	9. Cubicles and Telepathy

Willow let her last stake fly, dusting the three remaining vampires in the process. The front of the offices would definitely need a good vacuuming later.

"Okay, now to take care of the Man With No Name." Kennedy wiped her forehead. She picked up her duffel bag with her left hand, while holding an axe with her right.

Willow grinned. "We have got to stop watching those old Clint Eastwood westerns."

They walked through the door to the back of the offices.

To their surprise, they found the Black Hat standing only several meters away; he was near a door that presumably led to the cubicle area of the offices. He appeared amused.

"Wow, didn't think you'd be able to take care of my subordinates so quickly." He sighed. "And to think that I was looking forward to a good time with a couple of good-lookin' call girls."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Mister Hat," replied Willow.

"Yeah, it's a damn shame…I've never fucked a Slayer before. I'll bet it's quite the experience."

_Can't argue with you there, _thought Willow.

"Too bad you'll never live to find out!" Kennedy charged the Black Hat with her axe.

With incredible reflexes, the cowboy grabbed Kennedy's right wrist and twisted it enough to make her drop the axe. Kennedy punched him in the face with her free hand. He recovered quickly and jumped back, giving himself enough room to raise his left leg up and kick her in the chest, sending her flying into the wall.

Willow rushed over to the duffel bag and reached in, pulling out a knife. She threw it, again using magic to guide it straight for his chest (although to the Black Hat, it appeared that she had great throwing skill).

The Black Hat stopped the knife by trapping the blade between his palms. Immediately, he took it into his right hand and threw it at Willow, who could not raise the magic in time to stop it; she closed her eyes, waiting for the knife to hit its target.

She didn't feel the knife land. Instead, she heard a loud yelp from Kennedy and then opened her eyes.

Kennedy had managed to get up in time to run over and save Willow. She had successfully stopped the knife less than an inch away from Willow's left eye, and Willow could immediately see how: the blade was sticking out the back of Kennedy's right hand. Willow's right eye saw the Black Hat exiting into the cubicles area.

"God, that son of a bitch!" Kennedy cursed, slowly pulling the knife out of her palm. Willow cringed as she watched the blood run from the hole.

"Let me have a look at that, honey." Willow cradled Kennedy's bleeding hand.

"I don't suppose there's anything you could do with your magic to take care of that, is there? Without the risk of, uh, 'going dark'?"

"I could heal it completely, but it would be a lengthy process. However, I can heal it just enough to stop the bleeding."

"That'll have to do for now. You can take care of it after we take care of this bastard."

Muttering a few incantations to herself, Willow placed her hand over Kennedy's wound. A light shone between the two hands, and when Willow removed hers, the wound was still there, but had indeed stopped bleeding. Taking off her jacket, Willow tore a strip of the bottom of her shirt off and tied it around Kennedy's hand, to lessen the pain when she used the hand.

"Thanks, Wills. Shit, Cowboy Bob's a tough one. Saying that he's good with range weapons was an understatement; Jesus, he's a master when it comes to blocking and deflecting them!"

"Given the condition of your hand, it's funny you should mention Jesus." They both giggled at that. "Kennedy, my own personal savior." They outright laughed at the sacrilege.

Kennedy decided to leave the bag behind; she took out an axe for herself, and handed two knives to Willow.

They entered the cubicles, and immediately knew they were in for a rough time. There were cubicles everywhere (Willow wondered if they even had any usefulness in a business that mainly just involved assassinations), and there were two main "hallways" that went right by the individual cubicle entrances: one leading to the left, and the other going straight.

"We're going to have to split up, Kenn. You go left, and I'll go straight. We'll check each cubicle as we pass it. If you find him, holler so I can come help." Kennedy nodded hesitantly in response. They both hated the idea of either of them having to fight the Black Hat alone, but if they did not split up, it would give him a chance to double back and escape.

"Right," Kennedy replied.

They kissed and went their separate ways.

--

"What is taking her so long?" asked Dawn.

"I don't know," Andrew replied. "Maybe her meeting's running a little longer than she intended." Dawn could sense the anxiety in his voice.

They had been sitting in the lobby for nearly twenty minutes now. Even though they had enjoyed discussing movies and comic books with each other while they had waited, they were starting to worry that the CEO had suspected something. And why shouldn't she? After all, a Watcher and the sister of a Slayer (a Slayer who at one time had been _the_ Slayer) were both apparently interviewing for a summer internship, and at a late time of night. Normally the CEO would not have held an interview under such circumstances, but luckily for Dawn and Andrew, she had met them before and seemed to like them. Andrew and Dawn insisted that they wished to do the interview at night because that way, it would not interfere with either Dawn's school schedule or the CEO's sleeping schedule. Perhaps the CEO was also hoping that it would help her store up favor with the Senior Partners if she successfully corrupted two such young minds.

Finally, a man with wavy hair and thick glasses came down and spoke to them, sporting a heavily Italian accent.

"We apologize for making you wait so long. Please follow me." He turned and started walking away.

He thought he heard them whisper something. He turned and looked at them.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" They shook their heads no. The man nodded and turned back around. Dawn picked up her purse, and she and Andrew followed him.

They came to the bottom of the stairs, where they found two pink demons with red eyes waiting for them. Andrew recognized them as mind readers. He and Dawn both stiffened.

The two demons stared at them for what seemed an eternity. Finally, they turned to the wavy-haired man and nodded. He proceeded up the stairs, and Andrew and Dawn breathed with relief as they followed.

The man talked as they walked up the steps. "I hope you will forgive us for employing the telepathic demons, but we had to make sure that you were not here for other purposes besides the interview. Security has become tough lately, and we cannot afford to take chances with anyone."

"I understand," Andrew replied. He and Dawn looked at each other and smiled.

When they reached the top of the stairs, the double doors opened, and out stepped Ilona Costa Bianchi, CEO of the Rome branch of Wolfram and Hart. She wore a tight black dress that came down to mid-thigh and that was (to no one's surprise) very low-cut.

"Welcome, welcome, Andrew, Dawn, how have you been?" Dawn found Ilona's large accent to be rather grating on her ears. If the CEO's smile had been any wider, it would have cut her face in half.

"_Buona sera_, Signora Bianchi. It's good to see you again."

"_Grazie, grazie_, Andrew, it's good to see you also!_ Per favore_, call me Ilona!" She hugged Andrew really tight, nearly strangling him. He tried his hardest to ignore the feeling of her chest area against his body.

Ilona released her hold on Andrew and, brushing her dark hair back, turned to Dawn. "And Dawn! How have you been?"

Andrew could tell that Dawn was trying her hardest to maintain a friendly face as she shook the CEO's hand.

Ilona turned to the wavy-haired man and told him in Italian to not let anyone disturb her during the interview, no matter what.

"Come, come! We must go now to my office!" She opened the double doors again, and Andrew and Dawn followed her.

--

_Author's Note: I figure you're probably more interested in what's going with Faith and Buffy's fights right now, so I'll be going back to that in the next chapter._

_I pretty much have the ending planned out now (and I certainly hope you like it), though I'm still not quite certain whether I should kill off Dawn and/or Andrew; if you have any opinion about that particular subject, tell me in a private message, NOT in a review. I will be glad to hear what you think, but please note that your opinions will probably not affect my final judgment; in the end, I will go with whatever I personally feel works best for the story. I will not compromise just for the sake of pleasing either the haters or the fans of these characters._

_Anyways, thanks for all the feedback (and I certainly am open to more), and keep reading!_


	10. Scythe and Slash

_Damn, Whistler wasn't kidding about the armor part; I haven't been able to break his skin, yet,_ thought Faith as she swung the sword at a diagonal angle. D'Sulok ducked so that the blade glanced harmlessly off of his left shoulder. Then he reached out, claws extended, and left four bloody new scratches in Faith's upper left arm; she yelped at the pain.

So far, she hadn't been able to strike a straight blow at the reptilian demon. He was fast; he kept shifting his body so that Faith's sword hit him at an angle bad enough that his tough skin could deflect the blow. Even the "ubervamps" had not been this difficult.

Faith jumped back to give herself room. When D'Sulok tried to close that space, Faith jumped up and kicked him in the chest hard enough to knock him backwards, but not to force him off his feet.

Giles had just finished off D'Sulok's escorts. He made his way around so as to approach the reptile from behind. He was five feet away when D'Sulok charged at Faith and knocked her to the ground.

The fear showed in Faith's eyes as D'Sulok reached down and wrapped one of his scaly hands around Faith's neck, nearly raising her to her feet. He raised his other hand, preparing to deal the blow that would tear through her face and end her life.

Luckily for Faith, D'Sulok heard Giles running up behind him and instead dropped Faith to the ground. He jumped to one side (causing Giles to swing and miss; being a normal human, he could only do so much), and turned swiftly towards the Watcher.

Faith did not waste a moment. Immediately, picking up her sword, she stood and swung it directly at the area where D'Sulok's neck and shoulder connected.

It landed straight and true; in fact the blow was so hard that Faith's sword _shattered._ D'Sulok screamed in pain. He spun around.

That was when Giles and Faith figured out that D'Sulok could use his tail as a weapon.

Giles gave a loud "OOF!" when the side of D'Sulok's tail hit his abdomen (he felt like he had just been hit with a really big club), causing him to become airborne. The circular motion of the tail did not stop, however, and it slammed into Faith's chest, also sending her flying. She hit the ground hard.

"Foolish mortal," growled D'Sulok. "It will take more than one lucky blow to finish me. You cannot win." Faith slowly sat up, groaning. It did not help that she had landed on her arm (the one that already had the large scratches in it). She looked at the reptilian demon, and her heart sank.

Sure, she had finally struck a blow that pierced D'Sulok's natural armor; she could see black blood staining his blue robe around the shoulder area. But despite putting all her mind and strength into that blow, it had still not been even close to enough to take him out of the game.

"Faith!" Faith heard Giles call her name; she turned and looked in the direction of his voice. He had landed near the bodies of the gray demons that he had killed a few minutes before.

He had also landed right next to the case that Buffy had given Faith.

_Of course! I forgot all about it!_

With a hard shove, Giles sent the case sliding across the floor in Faith's direction. She caught it, and immediately undid the clasps that held it shut. D'Sulok growled.

"What is that, she-mortal? A stringed instrument? Do you hope to serenade me to death?"

Faith looked over at D'Sulok. "You know, I was hoping that I would be able to brag to my friends about how I defeated the Lizard King using just a regular old sword."

She opened the case, revealing the weapon that Buffy had given Faith.

It was still as beautiful as it had been when Buffy had recovered it from Caleb a year ago. The red blade at one end reflected the light almost like a mirror; the wooden stake at the other was smooth to the touch.

Faith lifted the Scythe out of its case, and stood up again. Immediately, she felt its power flowing through her body, giving her new strength; she didn't even feel the pain in her left arm anymore.

Grinning, she finished what she had been saying before. "I guess life just ain't that easy."

Buffy and the Immortal circled each other slowly. They had been fighting for at least a few minutes now; though they had crossed blades many times, neither of them had sustained a scratch so far. The Immortal proved to be a more formidable opponent than Buffy ever suspected; he had not yet even started to perspire.

The Immortal suddenly broke his stance and ran directly at Buffy. She stepped to her right; the Immortal passed her, turning as he did so and swinging his katana right toward the right side of her neck. She blocked it, and the two found themselves circling each other again.

Again, the Immortal made the aggressive move. This time, however, Buffy actually backed up, having to put all of her effort into blocking all of the Immortal's swings. Buffy realized that if she didn't do something, he was going to back her right into the wall.

She decided to jump back several feet (to put more room between herself and the Immortal, and thus give her a few seconds to get back on the offensive once again), but the Immortal continued to follow. She continued to back up (maintaining the distance) until she _was _against the wall. With several feet between them, the Immortal raised his sword so that it was pointing straight forward, and then _ran_ toward Buffy, prepared to pin her to the wall. Thanks to the distance she had put between them, however, Buffy had time to get out of the way.

The Immortal's momentum did not permit him to stop and turn, so instead he pointed his sword away (so it would not get stuck in the wall) and then, right as he reached the wall, he put his right foot against it and pushed off, resulting in a flying backflip. He landed several feet away, enough distance to help him regain his composure before Buffy came charging at him, swinging away.

He sidestepped her, sticking out his foot. She tripped and fell, immediately rolling over to defend herself. He approached her from the side and swung his katana toward her head. She blocked it by raising her own katana with one hand. However, he did not raise his katana again. Instead, he used it to apply pressure to hers, hoping to press it into her face. Her free hand moved around on the floor to her side, looking for something. She found it: her katana's scabbard, which she had luckily landed next to. She picked it up and struck the Immortal in the face with it, knocking him back. This gave her time to get back up.

They continued this way for a while, with one going on the offensive and the other on the defensive and vice versa, until eventually they were not even in the same room the fight originated in; they found themselves in the dining hall.

Buffy was on the offensive this time. The Immortal parried her blows, continually stepping back as he did so. Buffy was attempting to trap him between her and the large, long dining table that dominated the hall.

When she did back him up to the table, she ducked down and swung her sword, attempting to slash his legs. In response, he avoided the blow by jumping backwards onto the table.

Disappointed that her idea did not work, Buffy followed him by jumping onto the table as well. Buffy noticed that by this time, the Immortal had started to sweat. She knew that his endurance could only last so long if she kept him on the defensive. She continued her advance; she could feel him starting to wear out.

Eventually, they approached the end of the dining table. She smiled; she had him now. All she had to do was force him off the table, and then she could leap over his head and land close enough to him that he would not have room to jump back onto the table, meaning that he would be effectively trapped.

Sure enough, when they reached the end of the table, he did jump off backwards. She immediately leapt, doing a flying summersault while in mid-air over his head.

On the outside, the Immortal appeared to be showing the initial signs of fear. On the inside, he was smiling. By slowing his pace a little and remaining on the defensive, he had fooled her into thinking he was wearing out. He looked up at her; she seemed to be in slow motion while in mid-air; her feet were higher than her head, and he was looking into her face. He could tell that she was going to make one critical mistake: not turning around while still in the air.

Sure enough, as soon as she landed, her back was exposed to him.

In less than one second he brought his katana up so that the handle was on his right side and higher than his shoulders, and then swung the katana down and to the left.

He felt it cut flesh, and heard Buffy let out a cry of pain. A slash materialized on her shirt; it began near the left side of her neck, and went diagonally between her shoulder blades, ending near the lower right side of her ribcage. As the Immortal watched, the edges of the shirt around the slash began to turn a deep crimson.

Buffy felt warm liquid running down her back, and she knew she was done for. Dropping her sword, she stumbled to the right, then dropped to the floor altogether.

The Immortal approached her, using one foot to roll her over on her back; she gasped and winced as she felt the floor against her mortal wound.

As the Immortal raised his katana, preparing to deliver the killing blow, Buffy thought to herself, _Oh God, Angel. I'm so sorry._

_Author's Note: I'd like to say thanks to the faithful readers who have stayed with my story so far, and extra thanks to those who leave feedback.  
_

_This story is approaching its end; if I had to guess, I'd say there's probably about five chapters left after this one, but don't take my word for that._

_I am a college student in an engineering major, and midterms are here. I have three big tests coming up in the next week or so, so while I might be able to get a chapter or two out during that time, don't hold your breath. I promise you that at the _extreme_ latest, I will resume this story by next Monday (Oct. 16)._

_Due to the probable delay, you may want to add this fic to your Story Alert list in the meantime._


	11. Talisman and Shotgun

Ilona locked the doors behind her then walked behind her desk and sat down; Andrew and Dawn sat in chairs in front of the desk.

Dawn looked at Ilona. "Are you sure that this room is secure? I'm sure you've heard of my sister and how she feels about Wolfram and Hart. She probably has spies working here, and I don't want her to know just yet that I'm interviewing for a summer internship here; she would throw a fit."

"_Si, Si_!" Ilona replied. "I've hired a warlock to put a spell on the room to make it soundproof to anyone outside; I've also had the room scanned for bugs and cameras. Don't you worry your pretty head, Signora Dawn! No one will be able to watch or listen to what goes on in here. Oh, and _grazie_ for reminding me; I need to have my mind readers check the staff tomorrow for these spies you speak of." She scribbled a note down on a pad on her desk.

Dawn and Andrew looked at each other. Then, simultaneously, he reached inside his suit jacket and she reached inside her purse, and they both pulled out recently sharpened stakes.

Ilona's smile vanished as Andrew and Dawn stood up. She looked at the two of them with a look of puzzlement, which slowly gave way to realization. She smiled again.

"Ohh, I see. Very clever, _si, si_. Tell me, how did you get past my mind readers?"

Dawn's hand went to her neck, and pulled out a necklace. Attached to it was a small, green, sphere.

"We each have one of these talismans. We ordered them online; very expensive, too."

"And what exactly do they do, Signora Dawn?"

"They can only be used once. Andrew and I both whispered the words 'mentis reflectum' when your assistant came downstairs. Doing this activated the talisman, and for a few minutes, it made our minds reflect our actions. In other words, we were pretending to be interviewing for summer internships, and when we activated the talisman, we actually were intending to do exactly that. That is how the mind readers did not catch us; the spell wore off by the time you brought us in here."

The CEO smiled widely. "Very clever, yes. But it will do you no good. You are not Slayers; you know you can't defeat me, even if nobody outside can hear what goes on here, _si_?

"I guess we'll just have to test that theory," replied Andrew.

"Okay." Ilona's face changed; sharp fangs replaced her smile and her eyes turned yellow. She had a more bat-like visage than most vampires, indicating that she was quite aged. Andrew and Dawn knew that when it came to vampires, age meant strength, and they both realized at that moment that they had more than likely bitten off more than they could chew.

Ilona stood suddenly and violently shoved her desk away from her; pens and paper went flying. Dawn quickly jumped and landed on her side on top of the desk, then rolled off the other side onto the floor, next to Ilona's feet. Andrew, on the other hand, was hit hard, and he flew into the wall behind him.

Ilona dropped to her knees and lunged at Dawn. Dawn raised her stake in defense, but Ilona just grabbed Dawn's hand and twisted it, forcing her to drop the stake.

Dawn struggled violently, hitting at Ilona with her free hand. Ilona grabbed at Dawn's throat. Dawn kicked Ilona, to no avail.

After a moment's struggle, Ilona finally had her right hand tightly gripping Dawn's neck; she pulled her up into a sitting position. Using her left hand, she took the collar of Dawn's shirt and yanked it, causing several buttons to pop off, and then pulled Dawn's shirt and bra strap down to expose her right shoulder.

"I know that it's easy to think of me as an evil creature who should die, Signora," said Ilona. "But I'm sure that once I'm done, you'll begin to see my point of view."

Ilona pulled Dawn close in a tight embrace. Due to the tight grip on her throat, Dawn was unable to scream as she felt the CEO's fangs sink into the area between her neck and her right shoulder.

--

Willow tiptoed cautiously through the maze of cubicles, listening intently and watching carefully for any sign of the Black Hat.

She and Kennedy had been at this for about ten minutes. They knew he was still in here because occasionally they could hear the sound of his alligator boots clopping on the floor.

Willow took a right and continued. She checked each cubicle on both the left and the right as she crept down the aisle.

She turned to check a cubicle on her left, but as she was about to stick her head in, she saw movement out of the corner of her right eye. She turned swiftly and found the Black Hat coming out of a cubicle up ahead; he looked just as surprised to see her.

"Kennedy! Over here!" Willow yelled. She threw the knife in her right hand at the cowboy (again using magic as guidance); she aimed it lower so that it would be more difficult for him to catch.

The Black Hat evidently noticed this tactic and swiftly reached into the cubicle he had just exited and pulled out a chair, raising it a foot in the air. The knife landed and was impaled in the seat. Immediately, he set the chair down and kicked it towards Willow. She only had time to raise her arms in protection as the chair smashed into her, knocking her backwards. The Black Hat started to run down the hall away from her, but he stopped when he saw Kennedy come around the corner from the left. Turning his head both ways, he picked a cubicle and ducked into it.

Kennedy saw him run into the cubicle. She looked down the hall, and saw Willow getting up; she appeared to be alright. Kennedy decided to go after the cowboy first.

She reached the cubicle in less than two seconds, and ran into it, axe raised.

The Black Hat was standing there behind a desk, smiling.

In his hands was a shotgun, pointed directly at Kennedy's chest. She saw a flash come from the barrel, and heard a deafening sound.

_This is going to be really hard on Willow_ was the last thought that went through Kennedy's mind before the bullet tore through her insides and splattered them all over the floor behind her.

--

_Author's Note: I can already hear the boos in the background; I'd better duck before the throwing of the tomatoes begins._

_Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Keep chugging along, the end of the story approacheth._

_As a reminder, I still have midterms coming up; I know I managed to get this chapter typed out, but it could still be a week before I get another one out._

_Leave feedback as always; I would especially like it for this chapter. Special thanks to AscaDuin and Allen Pitt, both of whom with their constant feedback have been very good about keeping me accountable and encouraging me to keep going.  
_


	12. Two Surprises

"This is not a dishonorable way to die, flower," said the Immortal. "It is a warrior's death." Approaching Buffy, he grasped the handle of his katana with both hands and raised it above his head, preparing to drive the katana straight down through her heart.

_Here I go oh God Dawn I'm so sorry Angel Willow anybody please forgive me oh God oh God_. Buffy closed her eyes. She knew there was no way she was going to survive this.

Suddenly, she heard a whistling sound that started from the dining hall's doorway and went straight over her head.

"What the--?" Buffy heard the Immortal ask. She opened her eyes and looked up at the Immortal. He had lowered his sword by his side; he was not even looking at her anymore. Instead, his attention was focused on a crossbow bolt that had embedded itself in his shoulder. He looked in the direction from where it had come.

"I'm starting to regret the decision to send my guards home tonight," the Immortal commented. He casually pulled the crossbow bolt out of his shoulder as though he were pulling a pen out of his pocket. Buffy saw a little blood stain surrounding the hole in his white jacket. Nothing serious, but Buffy was relieved nonetheless to see that the Immortal was, in fact, not invincible.

"Step away from the Slayer." Buffy recognized the voice from the doorway immediately. It was the voice of one whom she had known for the past eight years. A voice that at this moment, she was very glad to hear.

The voice of Alexander LaVelle Harris.

"Xander," Buffy muttered weakly. The Immortal must have heard her; he looked at her in surprise then looked back at the man with the crossbow.

"Oh, I see. So this is the great Xander Harris. It's a great honor; Buffy's told me a lot about you."

Buffy rolled over on her side, so as to see him. Sure enough, it was Xander; the dark hair, the eye patch, all of it. His hair was longer since she had seen him last; it came down to nearly shoulder length, and he had a thin beard. He was dressed in brown corduroys and a blue long-sleeved button-up shirt. In his left hand, he held a crossbow; in the other, he held a sword.

Xander watched as the Immortal stepped over Buffy (who by this time was surrounded by a pool of her own blood that had oozed out from underneath her) and slowly approached him.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Bruce Campbell?"

Xander was surprised at the Immortal's question; apparently the Immortal really knew his films, the cult classics as well as the old classics.

"Yeah, it's been mentioned to me a couple times." Xander did not mention that he was in fact a big fan of Campbell's and that _Army of Darkness_ was one of his favorite movies.

The Immortal smiled and nodded as he approached. "You know, it's going to be difficult to take me in a sword fight when you have no depth perception. You won't be much good to her dead; if you walk away now, I'll let you live."

"Not going to happen," Xander replied without hesitation.

"So be it." The Immortal was now within ten feet of Xander.

Dropping his crossbow on the floor, Xander grasped his sword with both hands and lunged at the Immortal. The Immortal blocked it with his katana with no effort. The blades clashed a few times, but because of Xander's lack of training (as well as the lack of his left eye), it wasn't long before the Immortal was able to use his katana to twist Xander's sword out of his hands; it clattered to the ground several feet away. The Immortal held his katana to Xander's neck.

"I admire you for your bravery and nobility in trying to rescue the Slayer. But it has brought you nothing but your own demise." The Immortal slowly drew his sword away from Xander's neck, preparing to deal the killing blow, but stopped when he suddenly felt cold steel on his neck. He turned, and to his great surprise, saw Buffy standing there, holding her katana to his throat. He could see her blood dripping on the floor behind her feet. Despite this, she had fire in her eyes.

"Get away from my best friend, you son of a bitch."

--

D'Sulok lunged at Faith. Faith coolly stepped to the side, and brought the Scythe close enough that it barely (and easily) sliced D'Sulok in the ribs as he ran past, staining that part of his robe black.

D'Sulok growled in pain, and then turned and stepped toward Faith, glaring at her with his yellow eyes.

"So, the she-mortal has an enchanted blade, does she? Too bad she hasn't seen me at my best yet." Faith stepped forward, and swung her Scythe…only to have D'Sulok stop it by grabbing it by the handle with his right hand. Faith tried to pull it out of his grasp, but she couldn't budge it. He tried to do the same to her, but the power of the Scythe was enough to help her keep her hold on the handle.

Finally, he shoved the handle away from him, knocking Faith away from him. She skidded to a stop ten feet away. She got right back up, as the reptilian demon lumbered up to her.

_Fool me once, shame on you_. Faith swung the Scythe again. As she predicted, D'Sulok brought up his right arm to once again grab the weapon by its handle. However, this time, Faith pulled it back and down so that instead of the handle landing in D'Sulok's hand, the blade went through his arm; robe, bone, and all.

The arm fell to the ground, with black blood spurting out of the stump onto the ground. D'Sulok howled, and Faith pulled the weapon back toward her body.

She did not swing it this time. Instead, she jammed the stake end directly into D'Sulok's chest. D'Sulok stopped howling and started gurgling. His black blood started dripping out of his mouth, and Faith knew that she had won the battle. She turned back toward Giles.

"See, G? He wasn't so hard!" She saw Giles smile at that.

D'Sulok knew he was done for, and when the she-mortal turned her back, an opportunity for revenge presented itself. He did not waste it.

"Faith, look out--!" Giles did not give the warning in time.

Faith suddenly felt intense pain; it started in her midsection and immediately spread to the rest of her body. She couldn't help herself; she screamed.

"What the fuck?" she yelled. She looked in front of her, and saw that blood (_red_ blood) and pieces of entrails had sprayed the floor immediately in front of her, and she immediately knew before she even looked down at herself that they were her own.

When Faith had turned her back, the dying D'Sulok had executed his last desperate (and very well calculated) attempt to kill her. He had swung his large tail just right so that it skewered Faith through her back; about a foot of it was sticking out of her abdomen.

Giles watched her with horrified eyes as she looked up at him, her face betraying the surprise and anger she felt.

"I don't fucking believe it," he heard her mutter.

--

_Author's Note: Okay, I know a few of you probably just took a shotgun to your computer monitors, but please try to hang on; there's only a few chapters left. I will probably be concluding the four fights in the next chapter, and then proceeding to tell the final part of the story. I more or less have it all planned out._

_Remember that Joss has no problem killing off major characters…did I imitate him well?_

_As many of you can probably tell, I'm a bit of a film buff. If any of you are fans of the Evil Dead trilogy (which includes Army of Darkness), you may have noticed the tribute that I paid to it, not just in the dialogue exchange between Xander and the Immortal, but also in the clothing that Xander wears: throughout the Evil Dead trilogy, the character Ash (played by Bruce Campbell, who does indeed look remarkably like Nicholas Brendon) wears a blue shirt and brown pants._

_As usual, please leave feedback._


	13. The Battles End

"Kennedy! NO!" Right as she had heard the sound of the shotgun and seen the flash, Willow had seen Kennedy's blood (as well as pieces of flesh and bone) fly out of the cubicle, decorating the floor of the aisle and the wall across the aisle from the cubicle, followed by Kennedy herself, whose body had slammed into the wall, then slumped.

Willow ran over to the body, not caring at that moment what the Black Hat would do to her. She shook it, her chest heaving with sobs, the tears pouring down her face.

"No! Kennedy, baby! Please don't leave me! I love you! Oh God!" Willow hugged the body to her chest, kissing it on the forehead, not caring about the blood from the wound soaking her shirt.

She heard the sound of alligator-skin boots hitting the floor behind her. She felt something growing in her; she felt herself going dark…_No! I will not go evil again! I must control myself!_ Every cell of her body was screaming at her to give in, to invoke the dark powers and use them to flay the Black Hat alive, just like she had done to Warren Mears a few years back. She knew that unlike with Warren, she would have been fully justified, seeing as the Black Hat was a demon, and killing him was the reason she and Kennedy came here in the first place. But she knew that if she gave in and became Dark Willow again, there would probably not be any going back. _I have to control myself. Find another way to kill him._

"So, she was your lover, eh?" The Black Hat laughed. He had set the shotgun down on the desk inside the cubicle. "Never figured you two were really into the sushi! You're not much good without her; I can certainly handle one slayer by her lonesome, especially when I'm able to block everything she throws at me. So do yourself a favor, Red, and take one long last look at her; you're going to need to a picture of her in your mind to get through what I'm about to do to you!" He started to take off his belt, chuckling as he did so.

Willow slowly and calmly looked up at him. He immediately stopped chuckling.

"What the fuck's wrong with your eyes--?" Her eyes had gone completely dark. It was right when he heard the cocking sound behind him that it dawned on him: he was dealing with a _witch_.

He spun around, and found himself staring right down the barrel of his own (and currently levitating) shotgun.

The noise thundered throughout the cubicles; the Black Hat's head shattered, splattering pieces of his skull and brains everywhere. His black cowboy hat fell to the floor, and his lifeless body fell down next to Kennedy's.

"I'm sorry, baby," said Willow quietly, letting the shotgun drop to the floor. She kissed Kennedy's lips (which were still warm), and then, sadly, stood up and walked away, leaving the two bodies behind in the cubicle hallway.

--

Faith turned, D'Sulok's tail still stuck through her, and angrily threw the Scythe at the reptilian demon. The blade went right through his neck; his head thumped the floor, followed by his body, which spurted out black blood from the neck.

Giles ran forward to help Faith, who reached behind her and pulled the demon's tail out of her back. Covering her stomach with one hand to keep more of her insides from falling out, she barely took a step before she fell facedown on the floor.

"Jesus, Giles! I can't feel my fucking legs!" Giles could see why, and immediately felt like he was going to vomit. Her spine was severed; he could tell because it was exposed by her wound.

Giles rolled Faith over onto her back; he winced when she groaned at the pain. He saw that she was growing pale.

"I'm going to go for medical help," said Giles, standing up.

"Don't bother. My back's broken and my guts are all over the floor. Believe me, G, I'm beyond the best fucking medical care out there." Her blood was spreading in a pool beneath her. Giles sadly kneeled back down beside her.

"Man, G, can you fucking believe that? I have fought quite a few tough things out there. Angelus, the Ubervamps, Kakistos, even Buffy. And what do I get killed by? A moment of stupidity. How fucked up is that, G?" Faith laughed weakly, and then coughed, splitting up blood which dripped down her chin.

"You could not have foreseen that he would be able to do that, Faith. You fought bravely, you fought well, and you defeated him. As your former watcher, I'm very proud of you," replied Giles. Faith could hear his voice breaking. She smiled.

"Thanks, G. Tell Buffy I'm sorry, and give her the Scythe, okay? She's going to need it."

"I am so sorry, Faith." Tears were pouring down his face.

"Don't be." Giles could hear her fading.

Faith found herself drifting to events that had occurred earlier in the day. Events involving Buffy. The dancing. The hilarious joke they had played on the young Italian man at the club. The delicious meal they had eaten afterwards. The hugs and kisses they had shared.

"You know, G, when I think about it, I actually had a pretty good day today." They were the last words ever spoken by Faith Lehane. Her head rolled to one side, and she said no more.

Standing up, Giles removed his glasses and blinked away the tears that were forming. He sadly reached over and shut Faith's eyes.

Looking around the mansion, he found the door to the basement, which contained a furnace. He quickly dragged the bodies of the two guards down to the basement and disposed of them. He did the same for D'Sulok, though the lizard proved so heavy that Giles had to shove it down the basement steps before getting rid of it.

He would let the authorities find and deal with Faith's body; for now, he had to go meet Buffy and the others. Coming back up from the basement, he picked up the Scythe with one hand and his sword with the other. Then he walked out of the mansion and into the night.

--

"Now here comes my favorite part," said Ilona, smiling. Dawn had been drained of quite a bit of her blood by now, and was very weak. Ilona set Dawn down, and Dawn could only watch in horror as Ilona bit her own wrist, causing blood to flow.

"No…" Dawn muttered weakly. Tears formed in her eyes. "Please…don't do this…just kill me. Don't make me one…of you."

"Oh, don't worry, Signora. It won't hurt; in fact you'll feel the best you've ever felt in your life…or, well, your unlife." The CEO lowered her wrist to Dawn's mouth.

Dawn tried to struggle; she turned her head to one side.

"Now, now, Signora, let's not make this any harder than we have to, _si_?" Ilona grabbed Dawn's face with her other hand and forcefully turned it to her.

Suddenly the CEO flinched; her smile turned into a look of pain. Then, she crumbled; it took longer than most vampires due to her age. Dawn could even briefly see Ilona's skeleton before it too crumbled; all that was left was dust, which landed all over Dawn. She had to cough some of the dust out her lungs

When she stopped coughing and looked up, she saw Andrew standing there with a stake in his hand and look of grave concern on his face.

--

The Immortal did not wait to see what Buffy would do. He immediately pulled away from Xander and Buffy, raising his katana. Xander quickly went for the sword that the Immortal had knocked out of his hands, but Buffy stopped him.

"No, Xander!" said Buffy. "You saved my life, which I'm grateful for, but now this is my fight to finish." Xander stopped. He did not question her. Buffy glared at the Immortal while she was saying this.

"So, my flower was only pretending to have wilted, eh?" said the Immortal, smiling as usual.

Buffy responded by charging at him with her katana, putting him on the defensive once again. The Immortal parried, and found himself backing away again and again. Their swords clashed many times. To Xander, it appeared as though Buffy had nearly gone berserk.

Finally, when the Immortal blocked her once again, Buffy did not pull her katana away. Instead, she used it to push hard against the Immortal's sword. Then, with a little extra burst of strength, she shoved him backwards. He stumbled back several steps, and had to put his arms out to keep himself from falling. This left him wide open.

Buffy did not waste a second. With a yell, she plunged her katana straight into the Immortal's chest, letting go of the katana in the process.

The Immortal fell backwards onto the floor, the blade still stuck in him. He was sitting up, leaning on one hand; blood had started to stain his shirt right around where the sword was buried.

"Very nicely done, flower," he said, then fell flat on his back and said no more.

"Buffy?" Xander approached her from behind.

Buffy suddenly felt weak. She fell to the floor.

"BUFFY!"

--

_Author's Note: Okay, the four main battles are done now. The story, however, is not quite finished. Continue reading on, and find out what happens to our brave characters. You will also find out (probably in the next chapter) what the hell Xander is doing there._

_Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as usual, leave feedback._


	14. Medical Help

"Dawn?" Andrew's voice and right hand (the one holding the stake) were both shaking.

For a moment, Andrew was glad when he saw Dawn looking up at him, but then her eyes closed. Panicking, Andrew crouched beside her and felt for a pulse. Thankfully, she still had one, though it was weak.

Andrew surveyed Dawn's body; it was not without its marks. There were bruises on her neck where Ilona had choked her, not to mention the bleeding; Andrew could still see the blood and the fang marks on Dawn's bare shoulder. During her struggle with Ilona, her skirt had hiked up to her waist; Andrew discreetly reached over and pulled it back down.

He briefly considered carrying her out, but he knew that it would be next to impossible to make it to the front doors of the building; he and Dawn's talismans were no longer any good, and the mind readers were no doubt still out there. Thanks to the measures that the CEO had taken to ensure nobody could hear or see what happened in the office, nobody outside knew what had occurred in this room. Andrew decided that, for now, he and Dawn would be safer if they remained in here.

He stood and walked over to the desk. Searching through the drawers, he found bottled water and a first-aid kit (Ilona had probably kept those things as a courtesy toward her clients); he carried them back to where the unconscious Dawn lay.

Opening up the kit, he found packets containing alcohol wipes. He tore one of them open, and rubbed the fang marks on Dawn's neck with it, to help disinfect the wounds. The kit didn't have much as far as bandaging, so he placed a band-aid over each of the fang marks; it looked tacky, but it would have to do for now. He pulled her shirt back onto her shoulder.

Andrew untwisted the lid on the bottle. Holding the bottle in his right hand, he wriggled his left hand under Dawn's back, and then used it to pull her unconscious form into a sitting position. He put the bottle to her lips.

"C'mon, don't die on me now, princess." He tipped the bottle, allowing the water to pour into her mouth; it ran down her chin.

Finally, she coughed, and Andrew sighed with relief. She opened her eyes.

"Andrew?" she inquired weakly. "What's happening?"

"Everything's going to be fine, princess, don't you worry. Want some more water?" Dawn nodded. He put the bottle to her lips again.

Getting behind her, he put his hands under her arms and dragged her to the wall, propping her up against it so she could remain sitting up.

"So what happens now?" asked Dawn. "Are we going to try to meet Buffy?"

"We can't right now, we wouldn't be able to get out of this building."

"Heh…we didn't exactly think out an escape plan, did we?" She smiled.

"No, can't say we did."

Dawn nodded. "Do you have your cell phone on you?" Andrew nodded and pulled it out.

Dawn gestured toward the phone. "We need to let Buffy know that we succeeded, and that she doesn't need to risk her life to come get us. Send her a text message; it may not be a good time to call her right now." Andrew nodded in response and starting pressing keys.

--

Buffy turned out to be alright; the blood loss had simply made her weak in the knees. Looking around, Xander had found some medical supplies upstairs in the Immortal's bedroom.

Buffy was kneeling on the floor. She turned and saw Xander pulling up a chair behind her. Nodding, she turned back and took her shirt off as Xander sat down; he had to force himself not to sneak a peak over her shoulder.

Xander cringed when he examined the slash that decorated her naked back. Xander swore that if the cut had been any deeper, he would have seen bone. Thankfully, it had stopped bleeding.

He started off by going over the rest of her back with a warm washcloth, so as to clean off the now-dried blood that had dripped down it.

"That was good faking, Buffy, I seriously thought you were going to die."

"I was."

"Huh?"

"You were the one who saved me…you distracted him from killing me, and then when he started coming after you…it was like I just suddenly got a second wind. So, let me just say…thank you, Xander."

"No problem, Buff."

"So, what's with the Kurt Russell look?"

"The what look?"

"You know, the long hair, the beard, on top of the eye patch?"

"Oh, yeah, that…well, I've kinda let myself go while I was in Africa."

"Speaking of which, why _are_ you here? Not that I'm not ungrateful, but you were supposed to be looking for Slayers there."

Buffy winced as Xander began disinfecting her wound.

"Well," said Xander, "it began while I was searching for Slayers. The Slayers that were helping me came upon this small tribe that, by chance, happened to have _three_ of them. We decided to set up our 'headquarters' there; we would go out to other places, and when we found a Slayer, we would bring her back to the headquarters. The language barrier was a pain in the ass, but with the help of several dictionaries and a few Africans who knew how to speak English as well as their native tongues, we were able to get by alright.

"This tribe we were staying with had a shaman; he was as old as anyone I had ever seen, with snow-white hair, and quite skilled with the magics. What was most interesting, however, was that he had the gift of foresight. He often had these painful visions that would usually tell him that someone was in trouble. He would be able to tell the tribe members who the person was, where they were, and what was needed to help them.

"These visions always were about things that happened within a few miles of where the tribe lived. However, one day, he had a vision that was not so close to home. It was more painful than usual; by the time it was done, he was bleeding from the nose.

"Instead of telling the vision to his tribe members, however, the shaman spoke to me through one of the translators. He told me that his vision took place in a land far away, in an old city with tall buildings. He said that the Slayer, the one with the 'hair made of sunlight' was in trouble, and that I needed to go to her. At first, I didn't understand, since there are now many Slayers, and I told the translator to ask the shaman if he could be a little more specific. The shaman told me to look for the dwelling of the man who lives forever. At first I thought he may have meant Angel's place, but when I asked, the shaman said that it was a man, a human one, not a vampire or a demon. Having been told before that you had been dating the Immortal, it did not take me long to figure out that it was you he was talking about when he referred to the whole 'hair of sunlight' deal."

"Wow; that's quite a story," said Buffy. Xander finished up by placing bandages over the wound and holding them in place with medical tape. Buffy put her shirt back on; it was not exactly considered high fashion to be wearing a blood-stained shirt, but what was she going to do, wear one of the Immortal's leisure suits?

Standing up, she walked into the room where she had left her coat. Putting the coat on, she heard a beep coming from one of its pockets, and realized it was her cell phone. Pulling it out, she found that Andrew had left a text message. It said that he and Dawn had been severely delayed, but not to worry to about them; they had finished their assigned task.

Buffy turned to Xander. "You probably should go, Xander. Things are going to be getting very chaotic here in a while."

"You mean those massive demon armies? The shaman mentioned those. I don't know if either of us will make it through the night, Buff, but if you're going to die tonight, I want to be there, too."

"That's sweet, Xander, but…"  
"No buts, Buffy. I stuck by you for those seven years in Sunnydale, and if you die before me tonight, then I will go down defending your body."

Buffy smiled and nodded, knowing that there was no way she could persuade Xander from staying for the upcoming battle. She cocked her head toward the front door.

"C'mon, Xander. We've got to rendezvous."

--

_Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long to get another chapter out, but now I'm finally done with my midterms (and boy, did I suck at them!), so now I can start writing again. With much luck, I will have this story finished within a week. The end is near, I assure you!_

_Thanks for all the feedback, and keep reading!_


	15. Reunion of the Original Four

The light at the street corner (the one where Buffy's apartment building was located) dimly illuminated the corner, revealing that Willow was already there, sitting on a bench and crying softly. Next to her sat Kennedy's duffel bag that still held several weapons.

She heard something, and looking through teary eyes, saw someone coming.

"Willow!" she heard Buffy call. "I'm glad to see you made it." Buffy looked around. "Where's Kennedy?" she asked as she approached the bench.

Willow simply stood and looked at her, and Buffy knew right away what had happened.

"I fought it, Buffy. I came so close to going dark again, but I fought it, and won, and then I killed the Black Hat."

Buffy stepped forward and gave Willow a hug. "I'm so sorry, Will."

Willow started sobbing, and then she felt another pair of arms encircle both her and Buffy.

When the embrace broke, Willow looked up and was surprised (and somewhat uplifted) to see Xander standing there.

"Xander? What are you doing here? And what's with the new look?"

"Long story, Wills. Basically, I got sent here to save Buffy's life by having to have her save mine." Willow was glad to see Xander had not lost his sense of humor.

Willow looked at Buffy. "Does he know the sitch?"

Buffy nodded. "I filled him in on everything on the way over here."

It was right about then that they felt the first drops of rain. Within moments, it was pouring.

"Wow, big downpour before the big fight, seems kind of cliché, doesn't it?" said (or rather, due to the roar caused by thousands of drops simultaneously hitting the pavement, yelled) Buffy. The other two smiled and nodded.

"What's that?" Xander pointed. All three of them looked toward that direction, and saw the figure approaching. The dim light and the wall of rain at first made it difficult to recognize, but as the drenched figure came closer, they saw it was Giles. He had taken off his glasses, and his wet hair clung to his forehead.

"Have you been waiting long?" Giles asked. The others shook their heads.

"Faith?" inquired Buffy, with hope in her voice. Giles looked at her with a somber expression, and slowly shook his head.

All four of them slowly bowed their heads. Buffy was thankful that it was raining; she did not want the others to know she was crying. When she looked up again, Giles was holding the Scythe in front of her.

"Faith wanted you to have this," said Giles. Buffy nodded, and took the Scythe into her right hand.

"So what happens now?" asked Xander. Giles looked up at him.

"Xander? What the devil are you doing here?"

"Long story, G-man."

"I told you over and over not to call me that! And by the way, might I add that you really need a shave and a haircut?"

"Good idea, I'll do that right after we survive this fight. Now, back to my question, what happens now? What do we do?"

Buffy answered. "I'll tell you what we do now: we wait. We have done our part in averting this apocalypse, and there's no taking it back now; the Senior Partners are going to have an absolute wiggins and will be sending their armies for us, but first we need to wait for Angel to finish his part. He needs to slay the other members of the Circle of the Black Thorn, the ones in L.A." She looked at her watch; it read that it was four o'clock in the morning. She was surprised; had it really been that long since they had left the apartment?

"It may be a little while longer, since our clocks are several hours ahead of Pacific Time," added Willow.

"Maybe we should get out of the rain for now," said Xander.

"Yes, we should," agreed Giles. "At this rate, we'll die of pneumonia before the Partners ever lay a hand on us." The four of them walked over to the apartment building and stood under the awning.

Willow watched the rainfall, illuminated by the light at the street corner.

"It's kinda beautiful out there, isn't it?" she said.

Buffy nodded her head. "That it is."

"I hope Dawn and Andrew make it back here soon," said Giles.

Buffy and Willow gave each other a knowing look.

_Dawn will not make it back here, if Andrew does what we told him to do,_ thought Willow, sending the mental message to Buffy.

_Yes_, Buffy thought back_, and I feel very guilty about it_.

_It's better this way,_ Willow assured her. _It's the only way we can spare her whatever horrible and painful fate may await us at the hands of the armies of the Senior Partners._

Buffy knew Willow was right. She only hoped that Dawn would forgive them for what they were going to have Andrew do.

--

_Author's Note: Are you catching on to what they're going to have Andrew do? You'll find out more in the next chapter. Anyways, I thought it would be cool to have it to where the four original Scoobies are reunited for what may be the last time (hence why I decided to bring Xander into the story)._

_ And before you mention it, yes, I know that it really seems coincidental that it's raining in Rome on the same night that it's raining in L.A., but for some reason, I've always had a thing for scenes that take place in the rain. I'm not sure why._

_And as always, remember: Feedback is good for a fanfic writer's soul.  
_


	16. Flashback

_Note: Just for extra clarity, the flashback in this chapter takes place during Chapter 6._

--

"You know, I wonder how I would have reacted if someone had told me two years ago when I was still in the Trio that in two years I would be doing this."

"Sitting around in an office at a prestigious law firm waiting for a demonic army to kill you?" Dawn replied, raising one eyebrow at Andrew, who was sitting on the floor as well, leaning on the opposite wall and staring at his now-scuffed shoes.

"No, I mean _this_…you know, fighting evil instead of being evil and all."

Dawn smiled. "You were never evil, Andrew."

Andrew looked at her. She continued.

"You were a sheep. You followed the crowd; you did something if and only if others did it. Warren had the opposite problem; he was greedy and power-hungry. Jonathan, like you, was weak at first, but he eventually took a stand, and even betrayed Warren to save Buffy's life."

"Yeah…Jonathan was like that. He had a way of getting himself in over his head, but in the end, he always did the right thing," replied Andrew, remembering his best friend. There was never a day that went by that Andrew did not regret what he had done to Jonathan back at the Seal of Danzalthar. He just hoped that Jonathan had forgiven him and was enjoying brand new Star Wars comics (or something like that) up in heaven. "Can't really say that I'm not still a coward though, Dawn. Truth is, I'm scared of what's going to happen to me...to _us_."

Dawn scooted her lower back into the wall, allowing her to sit up more straight. "Do you really think that two years ago, or even one year ago, that you would have had the courage to come near a powerful vampire like Ilona and stake her? Or, while I'm on the topic, do you think that you would have been able to volunteer for a fight like this, knowing full well that you probably would not survive it?"

Andrew nodded slowly. "I suppose not."

"Just because you're scared doesn't make you a coward. You think I'm not scared? Hell, I'd be surprised if Buffy or Faith weren't at least a little scared themselves. Believe me, you changed, Andrew. You matured."

"Just wondering, Dawn…if I matured, shouldn't I have given up the Wonder Woman comics?"

Dawn laughed. "Sure, you still have some geek left in you, but that's just part of who you are. Besides, I find geeky you a little sexy."

Andrew's eyes flew open at that. "R-really? Th-th-thanks." Dawn smiled sweetly at him.

Dawn gestured toward the door. "We've been in here for a couple hours. You think they're getting suspicious out there?"

"Probably, but Ilona did tell them not to disturb her; I doubt they're stupid enough to disobey her." He stood up. Walking behind the desk, he put his ear against the door.

"Hmmm, not hearing anything; it's pretty quiet out there."

"Andrew, the room's soundproof."

"Huh? Oh, right." As he moved away from the door, he felt something bump against his side…something that was in a pocket inside his suit jacket. He froze.

_Damn, I forgot_, Andrew cursed to himself.

"You alright, Andrew? Your face just kinda, you know, dropped."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking to myself, that's all."

His mind flashed back to a few hours before.

--

It had been somewhere between 10 and 11 that same night (about five or six hours ago). Everybody had gone out and had fun, and now they were getting ready for their respective battles. Andrew had already showered and was now standing in his bathrobe in the hallway, combing his hair into place while Dawn showered.

"Andrew?" He felt Buffy's hand on his shoulder, and turned.

"Yes, Buffy?"

"Willow and I need to speak to you in private for a moment." She led him to Dawn's bedroom, where Willow was already waiting. Buffy shut the door.

"Am I in trouble or something?" asked Andrew, worried.

"No, but we need a favor of you."

"Umm…okay, what is it?"

Willow stood up and handed Andrew two small objects. Upon examining them, he discovered that they were capsules, the kind that you swallowed for medicine and such. They each contained a yellow powder.

"You want me to swallow them?"

Willow answered him. "One of them is for Dawn. The other you can take if you want."

"In addition to helping Dawn take out the CEO, you're job is to ensure that she never makes it back to the rendezvous point," said Buffy, her voice barely staying even.

"What?"

"Do you realize what the armies of the Senior Partners will do to us? They will probably and literally tear us to pieces, and we'll be lucky if we're dead before then. You are to have Dawn take one of these pills. Mix it into her drink or whatever; just make sure that she takes it _after_ you two are done with the CEO. She must be spared the painful death that would inevitably follow," replied Buffy.

"What do the pills do?" replied Andrew, fear growing in his voice as he already had a strong guess.

They explained it to him. He was nearly on the verge of tears as they told him what the pills were, where they came from, what they did, what he had to do, etc.

"I'm afraid the pills are rather slow-acting, but they're painless; she won't feel a thing," said Willow.

"So will you do it?" asked Buffy.

"Dawn and I both signed up to die in battle with you guys. We are not going to take the coward's way out and leave the rest of you to face the armies alone!" replied Andrew angrily.

"It's for Dawn's own good, Andrew. She's my sister, she's a good person, and she doesn't deserve to die in such brutal fashion. You'll be doing her a favor. Besides, as decent a fighter as she is, she's not going to be much good against the armies." said Buffy.

"No one's asking you to do the same thing to yourself, Andrew," added Willow. "We are only asking that you make sure to help Dawn; you can join us afterwards if you wish, or you can join her."

A moment of silence followed. Then, finally, Andrew nodded. "My heart is not in it, but I will do as you ask."

--

"You want some more water, princess?" Andrew held up the now half-empty bottle of water.

"Yeah, I'm getting really thirsty again." Andrew turned his back toward her, holding the bottle of water in front of him. She had closed her eyes, and was relaxing against the wall as before. She did not see him break one of the capsules and dump its contents into the bottle. He shook the bottle as quietly as possible. Checking the bottom and sides of the bottle, he saw that none of the yellow powder rested there; apparently the stuff had dissolved quite well.

"C'mon, princess, open up," he said, kneeling down and holding the bottle to Dawn's lips. She finished off the bottle.

She looked up at him. "You know, Andrew, I have really enjoyed being with you today. You've been a great friend, and I loved the whole "dinner and a movie" deal. I can see what those Italian women see in you."

Andrew smiled. "It was my pleasure, princess." He sat down next to her.

On the inside, he was feeling somewhat disgusted with himself. He felt that he was somehow betraying Dawn, and yet he knew what he had to do. It did not make him feel much better when Dawn took his hand, although he did appreciate the show of affection. Checking to make sure she had shut her eyes again, he reached into his suit jacket with his free hand and quickly and quietly removed the remaining capsule.

_Please forgive me, Dawn_, he thought, as he put the capsule in his mouth and swallowed it.

--

_Author's Note: Okay, gang! Story's on the verge of being done! I am currently estimating that I only have two chapters left after this, so hang on!_


	17. Reminiscing

"You think they'll be waiting for me?"

"Huh?" Xander looked up at Willow.

"Tara and Kennedy. You think they'll be waiting for me in Heaven?"

"I think they already are, Wills."

"You think they'll be jealous of each other?"

"Well, if heaven's half as nice as it's cracked up to be, then I imagine jealousy doesn't exist up there. I'm sure you'll be able to be with both of them at once…okay, I've got to stop talking, naughty images are coming to mind." Willow smiled when she heard Xander say that.

They stood watching the rainfall for a minute. The rain had not decreased in intensity since they had gathered under the awning; in fact, it only seemed to be getting worse. Buffy and Giles were conversing with each other twenty feet away; the roar of the rain did not permit the two pairs to hear each other's conversations.

"You know, it's times like this that make me long for the good old days of high school," said Xander, "the days when apocalypses were reasonably survivable."

"I know," said Willow. "It's so hard to believe how much we've changed—how much the _world _has changed. There are times when I would give anything to help you with your math homework again, or watch Oz during those three nights of the month, or even be mocked by Cordelia."

"Ah, Cordelia." Xander chuckled, and then his smile vanished. "You know, I wish I could have seen her just one more time after our literally explosive graduation ceremony; just to have coffee, patch up a few rough spots, that sort of thing." He paused. "I wish I could have gone to the funeral; unfortunately, communication is slow in Africa, and I didn't get the message until days later."

"I was astral-projecting at the time," replied Willow. "I didn't get the message in time, either. At least she went peacefully; you know, in a coma and all."

They paused for a brief moment until Willow spoke.

"Remember that time back in eighth grade when we went on that class field trip to the city hall, and you, me, and Jesse got separated from the group?"

"Yeah," replied Xander, "and while the rest of the class was listening to Mayor Wilkins talk about his daily responsibilities, we ended up going outside and wondering around aimlessly until we found ourselves all the way over at the Bronze. Man, Mrs. Appleton was so angry; she and the class spent _hours_ looking for us." They both laughed. "Good times, good times."

They said nothing for a full minute. Then Xander smiled.

"Remember that game we used to play where one of us would quote a movie and the other would have to guess which one it was?"

Willow smiled as well. "Yeah, that was kind of fun. You know, as far as helping to kill boredom and all…too bad we grew too old for that."

Another moment of silence passed. Then, suddenly, Xander stepped forward directly into the rain, turned, and sat down Indian-style on the wet pavement, all while being drenched.

"Xander, what are you doing?" asked Willow, worried.

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die." He bowed his head.

"Xander, what are you—oh!" Her face lit up with realization, followed by her giggling, as she replied, "_Blade Runner_."

--

"I cannot believe it's been so long, Buffy."

Buffy looked at him. "It's only been an hour or or since we got here; we've just got to give Angel a little more time."

"I wasn't talking about that. I meant I can't believe we've known each other so long. It feels like just yesterday that you first walked into the school library, dressed like some daft schoolgirl, looking for textbooks and having no idea who I was."

"Yeah, and then you introduced yourself by plopping down the all-comprehensive manual on vampires right in front of me."

"To which, if I rightly recall, you did not respond in the most gracious manner possible."

"Yeah…you know, it feels really strange to think nowadays how I thought at the time that saving the world would never get any harder than defeating the Master. Turned out ol' Bat-face was just the beginning."

"Yes, I think what we're doing now, waiting for some demonic army to kill us, serves as sufficient proof of that."

"Your optimism is an inspiration to us all, Giles." Giles looked at her, grinning, then looked back at the rain.

"I hope the Council handles this well; they're going to have to elect a new Head, you know. God, I hope they don't pick Roger Wyndam-Price."

Their conversation was suddenly ended when the ground started shaking, accompanied by a deep rumbling sound. After a minute, it quit. The four of them looked around, bewildered.

"What the bloody hell was that?" asked Giles.

"I think that was Angel succeeding. C'mon, let's get ready!" she shouted at the others. Willow opened her (or rather, Kennedy's) duffel bag and took out a short sword, while Xander chose an axe.

Walking into the rain, the four of them went out into the middle of the street and spread out. Xander gestured at the Scythe that Buffy was holding.

"Will that improve our chances of winning much?" He had to shout so she could hear him above the rain.

"Probably not enough, but I think we can make the Partners feel a little less triumphant!"

They heard growling and screaming in the distance; none of it sounded human.

"They're not far away!" shouted Giles.

A minute later, they were all soaked to the skin, and yet still the armies were not quite in view.

"It's funny, you know," said Xander. "The four of us met nearly eight years ago; we were the four original Scoobies. We've fought many battles together, survived many apocalypses. Many people have come and gone from the group: Oz, Tara, Anya, and Riley, just to name a few. And yet, eight years later, it's still just the four of us left, standing together just as we did the year we met. Talk about irony."

Nobody replied; instead, they were looking for visual signs of the approaching enemy. The screams and growls were growing louder now.

Willow pointed up at the sky. "I've seen that somewhere before!"

The others looked up to see something flying toward them in the distance; it did not take long to conclude that it was a dragon.

"Yes, I remember seeing one of them at the tower where we fought Glory!" replied Buffy.

"Here they come!" yelled Giles.

Straight ahead of them, they saw that the armies were only a few blocks away, and charging straight toward them. It looked like something straight out of a Tolkien novel; there were demons of all shapes and sizes. A few were over twenty feet in height. The front line was composed of human-sized demons wearing dark armor, carrying all sorts of weapons, including swords, spears, and axes. The dragon flew a hundred feet above them. The screaming and growling had now reached a nearly deafening level.

Buffy took her Scythe with both hands, and felt its power flow through her; she raised it, ready for the enemy to strike. Willow's eyes turned black, and the blade of her sword lit up in flames; flames which even the intense rain could not put out. Giles held his sword in front of him and Xander gripped his axe with both hands.

_Here I come, Anya,_ thought Xander.

"Let's kick some demon ass!" shouted Buffy.

Buffy ran towards the approaching armies, and the other three followed.

The two sides struck.

--

_Author's Note: Okay, now the only thing left is the epilogue, which I will hopefully have out within a few days._

_I actually hit a little bit of writer's block with this chapter; I knew how I wanted to end the story and everything, I just couldn't think of how to type it down. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, but don't be surprised if I decide to revise it later; maybe change some dialogue or add more dialogue or something like that to improve it._

_I always get nostalgic for older Buffy (seasons 1-3) every time I watch the later seasons. Hence why I had the dialogue make references to Jesse, the Mayor, and other early things, such as the movie quotes game that Willow and Xander were shown playing in "When She Was Bad" (I love movies, okay?!)._

_Anyways, hold on for the final chapter, and as always, leave some feedback!_


	18. Epilogue

Dawn opened her eyes. She initially thought that she was still in the CEO's office, until she noticed that she was lying on a bed and covered by warm blankets and sheets.

Sitting up, she saw that she was in a hotel room. Nothing special, it wasn't the Hilton, but it certainly wasn't a Motel 6, either. It was dark (the lights were off), but she could make out a few details. For example, the room contained twin double beds, a bathroom, and a television that rested on top of the dresser in front of the beds. Light peered out from underneath the curtains on the room's large window; apparently it was daytime.

Putting her legs over the side of the bed, she stood up, and nearly fell; she was still weak from the blood loss, although she had recovered quite well. Looking down, she saw that she was wearing a white bathrobe; someone must have put it on her while she was unconscious.

Peering out the window, she saw that the room was on the second floor; she could see part of the parking lot from the balcony outside the window. She guessed that it was sometime in the afternoon. Closing the curtains again, she found the light switch, and flicked it on.

She saw that her purse was lying on the other bed. On hangers next to the bathroom hung the clothes that she had been wearing at Wolfram and Hart. She walked toward them, wanting to put them on, but decided against the idea when she found that they were wet.

_What's going on? What am I doing here? Why am I still alive? Are the others alive?_ Questions such as these went through Dawn's mind over and over again. For a split second, she even found herself wondering if she had indeed died and was now in a bizarre purgatory of sorts.

Dawn was feeling rather gross, so she decided that it would be best for now to take a shower. Stepping into the bathroom, she locked the door behind her and shed her robe. As she was walking toward the shower stall, however, she glimpsed something in the bathroom mirror, and turned towards it. When she saw what covered most of her body in the image reflected back at her, she shrieked.

--

Andrew unlocked the door to the hotel room and let himself in. By this time, he had thrown away his suit and changed into brand-new clothes, including a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a green t-shirt. In one hand, he carried a plastic shopping bag. He saw Dawn as she yelped and turned away from him, hastily pulling the sides of her bathrobe together and tying the belt. Her hair was wet; she had obviously just finished showering.

"Hey, princess, glad to see you're feeling better!" He set the bag down on Dawn's bed. "I went out and got you some new clothes."

"Andrew…hey…what's going on? Where are we?"

"We're in Naples. It's a rather long story, princess, I'm not sure to begin…"

"The last thing I remember is you sitting next to me in the office holding my hand."

"Ah, okay. To start with, you went unconscious. A little while later, an earthquake happened, and…"

"An earthquake?"

"Yeah, I can't really explain it, but the building just started shaking violently. I decided at that point that that was the best time to get you out of there. So I opened the door, and picked you up in my arms. Luckily for us, it turned out that the other employees of Wolfram and Hart were also trying to escape from the building, so no one tried to stop us in all the confusion. When I got outside, it was raining cats and dogs."

_So that's why my clothes were wet, _thought Dawn.

"We didn't get out a moment too soon; the building started collapsing a moment later. I carried you a couple blocks before my arms got tired; then I hailed a taxi and paid the driver a lot of money to get us as far away from Rome as possible."

Dawn looked at him in puzzlement. "That's great. But there's two questions I need answered. First, why the hell are we still alive? Second, did you by any chance have the cab driver stop by a tattoo parlor on the way here?

Andrew turned away from her, and took a breath. "It started when we were back at the apartment for the last time…"

--

"In addition to helping Dawn take out the CEO, you're job is to ensure that she never makes it back to the rendezvous point," said Buffy, her voice barely staying even.

"What?"

"Do you realize what the armies of the Senior Partners will do to us? They will probably and literally tear us to pieces, and we'll be lucky if we're dead before then. You are to have Dawn take one of these pills. Mix it into her drink or whatever; just make sure that she takes it _after_ you two are done with the CEO. She must be spared the painful death that would inevitably follow," replied Buffy.

"What do the pills do?" replied Andrew, fear growing in his voice as he already had a strong guess.

"I just mixed these pills myself today, using a little magic," replied Willow. "The ingredients are very hard to obtain; I could only scrounge up enough for two."

"They will make Dawn invisible to the Senior Partners," said Buffy.

"How will they do that?" asked Andrew. Willow answered.

"I found an ancient text recently that showed symbols that made one invisible to all but the naked eye; the person would not even show up on video cameras. The Senior Partners, not physically being in this dimension themselves, will not be able to see Dawn if she has the symbols protecting her, and that way won't know where to send their armies."

"What the pills do, Andrew," said Buffy, taking a step toward him, "is tattoo the symbols onto the body of whoever takes the pill. You must, and I repeat _must_, get her to take the pill and get out of Rome. I know that she won't take this well; she really wants to fight beside us in the battle, but you must do whatever is necessary to keep her safe and away from the rendezvous point."

"Can I ask you something?" asked Andrew.

"Sure," replied Buffy.

"Why her, or me, for that matter? Why can't either of you take the pill instead? Dawn and I have no special powers; the world needs you guys more than it needs us."

"We need the two of you to tell others what happened here. Besides, once the Partners' tempers have calmed down a little, they won't give a damn about finding two normal humans; they'll be satisfied enough with having eliminated three Slayers, a witch, and the Head of the Watcher's Council."

"I'm afraid the pills are rather slow-acting, but they're painless; Dawn won't feel a thing," said Willow.

"So will you do it?" asked Buffy.

--

"I would not have taken my pill, but you were in grave condition, princess, and Buffy told me to protect you, so I had no choice but to take it so I could stay with you."

Andrew turned back toward Dawn, and nearly cringed when he (not unexpectedly) saw tears forming in her eyes.

"How could you, Andrew? You know that I wanted to fight alongside her. How could you do that to me?"

"Believe me, Dawn, it hurt me to do it, but Buffy did give me orders and trusted me with them."

"Fuck her orders, Andrew! I wanted to be with my sister at the fucking end!" Andrew cringed, both at Dawn's screaming and at her language. Every cell of his body told him to back away from her. Swallowing hard, he slowly stepped forward instead.

She suddenly started pounding on his chest, cursing at the top of her lungs. "You fucker! I wanted to be there! How fucking could you? How…" She finally stopped and broke down, putting her face against his shoulder and sobbing heavily into his green t-shirt.

--

A while later, Dawn was sitting on her bed, watching TV (luckily, the hotel got CNN in the English language). She had put on the new outfit that Andrew had bought her; it consisted of a pair of blue jeans, and a long-sleeve maroon shirt. Dawn actually liked the outfit quite a bit; at least Andrew had _some_ taste when it came to women's fashion.

"In an unprecedented event, two riots occurred simultaneously on opposite sides of the world," said the female reporter. "One was in Los Angeles, while the other took place in Rome, Italy. While both riots lasted less than an hour, they left several people dead and destroyed millions of dollars worth of property. It is not known at this time whether the riots were racially motivated, although it has been reported by a few bystanders that many of the rioters had severely disfigured faces. The rioters were nowhere to be found afterward. We now go live to Daniel in Rome." The camera switched to a thirty-something man with brown hair and glasses.

"Thank you, Jennifer. The scene here is terrible; there is much destruction and chaos here. The authorities have sealed off the area to the public for the time being, and as such, I can not give you more information on that at this time. However, I have just received interesting news that several miles away from the sealed-off area, in a mansion near the Colosseum, the body of 21-year-old Faith Lehane was discovered. Lehane was a convicted murderer who escaped a federal women's prison a little over a year ago in the state of California, and had been on the run ever since. It is unknown at this time whether her death was related to the riots. Back to you, Jennifer."

Dawn had already cried all the tears she could cry on Andrew's shoulder, and so did not cry this time. She simply stared as the female news anchor moved on to another news item.

"Alright. Sorry for bothering you…just make sure to give me a call if you hear anything." Andrew hung up the phone.

Dawn turned and looked at him. "Nothing?"

Andrew nodded. "I called Robin Wood over in Cleveland, the Slayer School that Kennedy and Willow taught in Brazil, and the Watcher's Council headquarters in London, and none of them have heard any word about survivors. Oh, yeah, and nobody was answering in L.A.; I think the Wolfram and Hart building got destroyed there, too."

Dawn turned back to the TV. "Faith's dead; I guess she didn't survive her fight with D'Sulok."

Andrew sat down on the bed beside her. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes (though it seemed like an eternity). Finally…

"C'mon, princess. It's going to be at least hours before they report anything new. In the meantime, we really should get something to eat."

Dawn slowly nodded and turned off the television. The two of them got off the bed, and walked hand-in-hand out the door.

--

_Author's Note: HURRAY! After three weeks, it's finally finished. I have to admit, I'm actually rather proud of myself; I was so afraid at times that I would hit writer's block and allow this story to disappear into the dustbin of unfinished WIPs._

_I hope sometime in the future to possibly do a sequel (perhaps bringing in Connor and other characters), but I think that for the time being, I'll stick to one-shots (this fic was really time-consuming!)._

_Anyways, I hope you liked it, and thanks for staying with the story. And no, I cannot answer at this time whether the Original Four survived or not._

_Very special thanks to those who left feedback, especially AscaDuin and Allen Pitt. Make sure to leave more feedback, so I can know what you thought of the story as a whole. _


End file.
